strangelove
by MusedMoose
Summary: SHOUJOAI. Kitsune considers her changing feelings and what she feels for another of Hinata House, and the results... Complete! finally....
1. Otherteamly Tendencies

Author's note:

First, standard fanfic disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or places named in the story, I'm not claiming to, and I wouldn't want to 'cause taking care of Hinata House would be a pain. Please don't sue the starving writer.

Second, this is based off of the Love Hina manga, not anime - I know some of the same things happen, but I've not seen the anime, so I'm working with what I have. The events discussed happen throughout the fifth volume of the manga.

Third, WARNING: SHOUJO-AI CONTENT. PG-13 RATING FOR SEXUALITY AND ADULT SITUATIONS. You've been duly warned, so don't bother flaming me. And now, on with the show!

* * *

Kitsune rolled over with her dark-haired lover beneath her, reveling in the feeling of the other girl's flesh against her own, trying not to smirk but utterly failing. She didn't care, and she didn't think her new lover did either.

"Told you," she said, her voice half laugh and half gasp. It was all she could do to keep from giggling madly. She wasn't sure how long they'd been in bed, but she was already in that wonderful state of being tired enough to sleep but giddy and thrilled enough to stay awake for at least another few hours.

"And I told you," the strong girl beneath her said, her voice only slightly less controlled than usual, "that I prefer to be on top."

Kitsune's lover rolled the two of them right off of the futon, her lips close enough for the light-haired girl to feel her hot breath on her neck. . . .

. . . and Kitsune felt her head hit the floor, jolting her out of her dream and leaving her feeling very, very cheated.

She blinked, her eyes bleary, then groaned and yanked the covers over herself as she realized that, once again, it had only been a dream. Maybe, she thought, she should drink less before going to bed. Maybe she should drink more. Or maybe she should get off her ass and actually say something about what she'd realized.

Kitsune muttered and rolled back onto her futon, glad it was still warm but wishing she wasn't the only one warming it. Then again, if it was any warmer, she'd start to sweat, and there wasn't much point in doing that alone. She stared up at the ceiling, and at the ring of beer bottles that sat atop the shelf that circled her room. She had to do something about this, she knew. Even a professional slacker like her could only put things off for so long.

She still wasn't sure if she could call herself a lesbian, or if she was just bi, or even if it was just some really intense kind of curiosity. She knew that she'd started feeling something for women at least as much as men before she came to Hinata, but living here had only made it worse. Even Keitaro, as cute as he was sometimes, couldn't change that. The real question was whether or not she was the only one here who felt the same way. Kitsune stretched a little, then flopped her arms down, and started counting. There was something a little reassuring about it, even if she was only making guesses.

"Let's see. . . ." she said quietly to herself, counting off on her fingers. "Shinobu? Probably not, she's already set herself up to be the perfect little homemaker. Naru? Nah. Keitaro's the only guy she's noticed since Seta, and we all know how that's turning out, but I never saw her even glance sideways when we were in the locker room in high school. Sarah? Has to hit puberty first. Haruka?" She paused. "I doubt it, but I don't think I wanna know either way. Su?" She laughed to herself, and blew a few stray hairs out of her face. "That's anybody's guess, though who knows what she and Motoko get up to when they're sharing a bedroom. Motoko. . . ."

Motoko . . . the only one of the Hinata House girls who'd actively disliked Keitaro when he first showed up. Sure, Naru had been on his case pretty hard, but that was because she thought he was just a pervert. Motoko . . . the only one of the Hinata House girls who said that she didn't like men. Kitsune knew that she could be jumping to conclusions on that one; not liking men didn't automatically mean liking women. But it was a start, and it was very, very hard to keep herself from wondering. It was also very hard to keep herself from thinking about the other girl, though she could never quite place what drew to her so much. Motoko was strong and yet soft at the same time, and so quick to blush despite how noble and unaffected she seemed sometimes. Kitsune giggled. Yes, Motoko was strong . . . and in good shape . . . probably could go quite a while without resting. . . .

Kitsune twisted her fingers around each other, then brought them down to her chest. She growled to herself. "Motoko," she said, grinning.

It was a while before she managed to get out of bed.

At some point afterward, the thought occurred to her: shouldn't she be sure about how she felt, one way or another, before she started in on someone else? Even if she did have her suspicions and doubts about Motoko - to say nothing of her hopes, wishes, desires, blatant lusts, and things that made her feel all squishy inside - it wouldn't do much good if she woke up with the girl only to realize it wasn't what she really wanted.

So, Kitsune thought as she pulled on her clothes, she'd have to find a test subject. Naturally, there was only one person who qualified for that. She snatched a few tissues from a box in her room and stuck them in her pocket, then slid open her bedroom door.

Kitsune looked up and down the hallway. The floor was shining clean; Keitaro must have been at it already this morning. She smirked. That would mean he'd be tired, so her little test would be easier. She glanced back and forth, then stepped out. "Hey, Keitaro! Landlord-person, where are you?"

That was strange, she thought. Usually there'd be at least one other person around to hear her. That was one of the things about Hinata; even if everyone was all in one place they seemed like they could be anywhere else at a moment's notice. She shrugged, and headed out, then stopped when she heard something clunking. Dashing toward the sound, she found Keitaro putting his cleaning supplies back into a closet next to the bathroom.

"Morning, Keitaro," she said, not bothering to try to sound innocent.

"Oh, good morning . . . Kitsune," Keitaro said, breathing heavily. He was sweating and looked tired, and his hands had a few band-aids on them. "I just heard Shinobu call for breakfast, you going?"

"Yeah," Kitsune said, stepping closer. "But I need your help with something." She leaned in close to him, and winked at him as he started to blush. "You gonna help me?"

"Um . . . Kitsune, what're you . . . I. . . ."

"That's a yes." She grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him against the wall, then planted her lips on his. A few seconds later, after his first bit of struggling was over, she considered putting her tongue to use just to be sure, but she already had her answer, and pulled away.

"Nope," Kitsune said to herself as Keitaro collapsed to the floor. "Didn't feel a thing." She pulled the tissues out of her pocket and stuffed them up his nose, then headed to the dining room.

"Morning!" she called as she walked up to the table. Everyone else was already there, and she could tell that Shinobu had cooked, as usual. The only other person who might have made breakfast was Naru, and it looked too good to have been her work.

"Good morning, Kitsune," Shinobu said as Kitsune sat down. "Did you sleep well?"

Kitsune felt her face start to turn red again as the dream suddenly came back to her. "Really well," she said, starting to smile, "just not enough."

"Yeah, Keitaro pulled an all-nighter again last night," Naru said, sounding a bit put out. "Then he started cleaning first thing this morning. That idiot woke me up too."

Kitsune almost said something about what had really woken her up, but decided that some things just weren't best to talk about during breakfast. She figured that Keitaro's current condition, and why he was in it, fell into the same category.

"All the same, he is showing considerable discipline, to do so much on so little sleep," Motoko said, and raised her bowl to her mouth to finish off her rice. "If he can apply the same to his studies, then perhaps he'll actually achieve something."

"Hey, Motoko," Kitsune said as soon as the black-haired girl lowered her bowl, "you got a little rice right here." She flicked her tongue at the corner of her mouth.

Motoko paused, then wiped at the corner of her mouth with her finger. "I don't feel anything."

"Other side," Kitsune said, flicking her tongue farther out to the side and trying not to laugh.

Motoko wiped again, then looked at Kitsune, seeming slightly confused. "Are you sure? I still don't feel anything."

"Keep looking," Kitsune said, unable to keep herself from winking at Motoko. She looped her tongue out across her cheek as far as she could get it. "You're close, I swear!"

"You have a long tongue, Kitsune," Su said in between bananas. "Hey, can you do the cherry stem thingy?"

Kitsune laughed out loud, grinning at Su. "It's been a long time since I tried that. Hey, Naru, remember doing that back in high school?" The confused blink she got from Naru told her all that she needed to know. "This girl we knew had a bunch of 'em," she said, turning to the whole table, "and Naru spent the entire lunch period trying to get it right. I, of course," she said with her customary smirk, "got it on the first time."

"God, Kitsune, I can't believe you remember that!" Naru said loudly, sounding almost upset.

"What, you still mad that you couldn't get it?" Kitsune asked.

"Does that mean you're not a good kisser, Naru?" Su asked. Somehow, Kitsune thought, she sounded innocent. But just barely.

"How should I. . . ." Naru's face turned bright red, and she stood up so quickly she knocked her chair over. "I'm finished, thank you for the meal!" She ran off, and the sound of her clomping up the stairs came a moment later.

"I guess that's a yes," Kitsune said, watching Naru go. She looked back at the rest of her friends, still grinning. "So, how about the rest of you? Shinobu? Motoko?" She winked at Motoko. "Or should we just guess about that, since you didn't go after the rice with your--"

"I've no intention of trying something so ridiculous!" Motoko stood, though not as fast as Naru had. "Thank you for the meal, Shinobu. I have training to do." She stalked out of the dining room.

Kitsune watched her go, and couldn't help thinking that things just weren't looking good. She looked over at Su and Shinobu. The younger girl looked mildly traumatized - not that it was difficult, Kitsune thought - while Su just looked curious. "Hmm, maybe not," Kitsune said.

* * *

Later that day, Kitsune headed out to the deck area where Motoko usually practiced her sword work. She'd already had a few beers, the better to get her tongue loosened and to keep her from worrying. Not that she really worried, ever, but she'd felt like having the beers anyway.

She walked up the steps to the deck, a half-finished beer in one hand, doing her best to keep quiet. While surprising someone with a sword might not be the best idea, she liked the thought of catching Motoko off guard. People tended to be more honest when they were surprised, and honesty was important in relationship-type stuff, as she'd tried to tell Naru. Not that Naru had listened much, but Kitsune still thought the idea was a good one.

Motoko was, of course, hard at work and didn't notice the other woman. Kitsune leaned up against the deck railing and watched the kendo girl's form, her smooth movements and lithe figure. She reminded Kitsune of some kind of jungle cat, and she couldn't help wondering just what kind of beast was lurking beneath Motoko's calm facade. She could feel herself starting to blush, and knew a big happy grin was working its way onto her face. Hopefully she could pass it off and blame the beer.

As the black-haired girl finished the final moves of one of her katas and slid her sword back into its sheath, Kitsune applauded. Motoko actually jumped as she turned around, and looked very surprised to see Kitsune standing there. Her hand was still on her sword, and she started to pull it out, then slid the blade back down.

"What," Kitsune said with a grin, "you think I was Keitaro or something?"

"He's more likely to sneak up on me than you are," Motoko said, not taking her hand off of her sword. "You've never come up to watch me before."

"Something about a girl with a sword," Kitsune said, trying to sound a little playful but not too much, so she didn't scare Motoko off again. She took a sip of her beer. "You know," she continued, starting to walk toward the other girl, "it's kinda masculine but kinda not?"

She started to walk around Motoko, looking at her from all angles as the kendo girl stood there looking almost nervous. It was all Kitsune could do to keep herself from giggling. This was just too much fun, even if nothing came of it. She almost patted Motoko's ass as she went by, but managed to restrain herself.

"We've . . . been over this," Motoko said hesitantly. "You were there. A woman who is unfeminine, balanced by a man who is unmasculine." She paused, and gave Kitsune a questioning look as she walked in front of her. "Where is Urashima, anyway? He wasn't at breakfast this morning."

"Eh, he probably knocked himself out from cleaning and studying, you know how he is," Kitsune said quickly. "But why the concern?" She leaned a little closer, just enough to make Motoko start to lean back. She could smell the other girl's sweat. "I thought you didn't like him."

"That doesn't mean I don't want him to pass his exams," Motoko said quickly, then visibly relaxed as Kitsune leaned back. "He's proven that he's not completely worthless, but if he can't apply himself - Kitsune, what are you doing?"

Kitsune stroked the tips of her fingers over the smooth wood of Motoko's sword's handle, turning to stand next to the other girl and still trying hard not to laugh. "But you still don't like him much," Kitsune said, acting like she hadn't heard Motoko's question. "Or do you just not like men in general, like you've said?"

"I don't see what that has to do with anything," Motoko said, her voice carefully controlled. She started to step away from Kitsune, but was stopped when the other woman wrapped her hand around the sword's grip.

"What," Kitsune said playfully, "you don't want me touching your sword?"

She let go of the sword and stepped back, then downed the rest of her beer. Motoko was visibly blushing. Kitsune wondered for a moment if she'd gone a little too far, and stepped back to the railing again. Motoko didn't move, but watched Kitsune the whole way.

"Kitsune," the dark-haired girl said after a moment.

"Yeah?"

"Just how much have you had to drink this morning?"

Kitsune raised the can she held to her eye, shook it, then shrugged. "Not enough to make me do something I shouldn't, I hope," she said, then headed down the stairs and back to the house.

Once she was out of Motoko's sight, Kitsune hurried back to her room and shut the door. She held it in for just a second, then burst out laughing so hard that she collapsed to the floor. Sure, she might have gone a little too far, but she still hadn't done anything blatant. If she'd started touching Motoko's flat stomach or her strong arms or. . . .

"I'm gonna drive myself crazy," Kitsune whispered to herself. "But I can't help it. And she didn't start trying to kill me like she does with Keitaro, so maybe, just maybe. . . ." She started laughing again, and couldn't help considering all the wonderful possibilities.

* * *

Motoko waded through the open-air bath and found a place to sit down, then splashed the warm water on her face, washing away the last few traces of sweat but not the questions that were spinning through her mind. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't keep herself from thinking about Kitsune's odd behavior less than an hour ago. The other woman had always been somewhat inscrutable to Motoko - she seemed set on indulging in nothing but the pleasures of life, no matter what they may be or what shape they would leave her in. Motoko had to admit to herself, she'd scoffed at Kitsune's lack of discipline but couldn't help noticing that she seemed to enjoy herself a great deal.

"Is that all she was doing?" Motoko said quietly to herself. "Finding another way to enjoy herself, at my expense?"

After a moment's thought, Motoko shook her head. Kitsune might be lazy, a lush, and a host of other things besides, but she was a good person despite all that. Perhaps even because of all that. Not everyone could be a warrior, and it was probably for the best that Kitsune did not try to follow that path; Motoko couldn't hold her to that.

She then realized the line of thought was leading her absolutely nowhere. She headed over to the edge of the bath, and dumped a bucket of colder water over her head, hoping to clear it. The water had some of the desired effect, and Motoko sat down again.

Kitsune had come to watch her practice, as she never had before. That in itself was a surprise, but it could mean many things - for all she knew, Kitsune could have just been bored. She didn't seem bored, though. If anything, she seemed very, very interested. Motoko felt herself starting to blush at the implications, and quickly moved on.

She remembered the look on Kitsune's face, that gleam in her eyes, and tried to think of the last time she'd seen it. There had been a moment, she was sure of it, but why couldn't she think of when it had happened? She leaned back against the rock and stared up at the sky and the roof of Hinata House, trying to remember.

A sudden movement at one of the house's raised decks caught her eye, and she reached for her towel and her sword, wondering if it was Urashima again. To her slight relief, she saw that it was only Shinobu with the laundry. She seemed to have a heavier load than usual today, and Motoko watched to see what it was. Shinobu started pulling out some silken robes with prints on them, and hung them on the line. Motoko nodded to herself. The yukata were Haruka's, but she still found a use for them from time to time-

Motoko's eyes widened as she gasped. She remembered wearing a yukata for the summer festival at the beach, when she and the others had been working at Haruka's beach café. Kitsune had been there, of course, and she had said the oddest things - telling Motoko that the yukata looked very nice on her, and that she was supposed to be going naked underneath it . . . even going so far as to say "That's my little traditional girl." Motoko had passed it off as Kitsune being Kitsune at the time, but now. . . .

She drew back against the rocks, clutching her towel to her chest as she tried to breathe evenly. How could she have forgotten that? Kitsune had that look in her eyes even then, that vaguely lascivious glaze, hinting that she . . . that she. . . .

"Did she mean that?" Motoko whispered, unable to keep herself from putting words to her thoughts. "Could she actually be serious? And. . . ." She felt her face growing warm. "And why am I blushing?"

She'd blushed then too, she remembered. Kitsune had been tugging gently on the shoulder of her yukata, almost as though she wanted to see more . . . to see what was under it, to see if Motoko had still wrapped her breasts beneath it. . . .

There were other times, now that she thought about it. Shortly after they'd arrived at the beach, Kitsune had been just short of insistent about putting some lotion on her back. And only a day after that, when Urashima's friends had showed up at the café, Kitsune had encouraged her not to worry about it as they all drank . . . had Kitsune been trying to get her to relax, or had there been something else on her mind?

Motoko paused, closed her eyes for a moment, and took a deep breath. That, she thought, was out of line. Kitsune was wild in her own way, but wouldn't have been trying to get her drunk if she'd had other plans. The other woman was direct enough that she would come out and say something if she wanted to. At least, that was what Motoko hoped would happen in this case. Until then, she would have to do her best to not make assumptions, to wait and see what happened.

She had to admit, though, she felt herself filling with an odd sort of anticipation at wondering just what Kitsune would or wouldn't say. How long had it been since someone had shown any interest in her, even the slightest bit? Such romantic wonderings were better left to others, as they were not the way of the warrior, but if she was right about Kitsune, Motoko couldn't help feeling a bit . . . flattered, perhaps?

Or, she thought before she had a chance to realize what she was thinking, perhaps a little interested?

Motoko sat there, up to nearly her chin in the water, staring at nothing, dumbfounded at the possibility. She had to ask herself if it could be true. She had to be honest with herself. Was that why she'd always wanted to throw herself into her swordwork and the warrior's way of life, because somehow she knew she'd never want to be with a man? Was that why she didn't care if she was feminine or not, even if Kitsune had been one of the ones to note that she was becoming more like that?

She paused again, and reminded herself to be rational. She could be overreacting; she knew that she tended to do that when confronted emotionally. What she needed to do was find a quiet place and think on this. By knowing herself better, and seeking her answers for herself, within herself, she would know her truth. She nodded to herself. She would finish her bath, then return to her room to meditate. It was a good plan; it was a sensible plan.

It was a plan that went right out the window when she saw Kitsune coming out of the washing room wrapped in a towel.

Motoko ducked her head under the water to hide her blush. This just couldn't happen right now. Having to confront someone about all kinds of things that were still just possibilities less than a minute after realizing them wasn't going to help at all. She had to get out of here, quickly, without looking suspicious. Hopefully that wouldn't be difficult.

She lifted her head out of the water, trying to look like she'd been rinsing her hair, and glanced over at Kitsune. The other woman was leaning back against the rocks and had already shed her towel. Motoko frowned. This was going to be more difficult than she had thought.

"Aaaahh. . . ." Kitsune basked in the sun, and grinned in Motoko's general direction. "Nothing like a midmorning bath," she said.

"You say that about nearly every bath you take," Motoko said, sounding harsher than she meant to. She wasn't sure if Kitsune even noticed, though - the other woman had something of a glaze in her eyes, as she had earlier that day. Motoko half-hoped it was alcohol.

"Only 'cause it's true," Kitsune said casually. She cocked her head at Motoko. "Can't tell me you don't like it."

"Of course not," Motoko said quickly. Some part of her mind fluttered with possible other meanings Kitsune could have had with that statement, especially the way she was posing, with her shoulders thrown back and her legs stretched out and her-

"How long you been in here, Motoko?" Kitsune asked. "You're turning red, y'know."

"I suppose it has been too long," Motoko said quietly, then reached for her towel. She heard Kitsune say something almost under her breath, something that sounded like "you're telling me," but she wasn't sure if she'd been meant to hear it or not. After wrapping her towel around herself, she stood, and started toward the washing room.

Of course, she had to walk past Kitsune to get there, and the other woman's legs were stretched out across her path. She started to step over them, then felt Kitsune's calf rub against her own as she shifted. Motoko felt a shiver run up her spine, and barely stifled a gasp. She couldn't remember feeling that at any other time in her life.

She didn't realize that she'd stopped until she felt Kitsune's leg nudge her own again. "Motoko . . . you all right?" Kitsune asked.

Motoko looked down at her to see the now-familiar glaze in Kitsune's eyes. It wasn't alcohol, she was sure of that by now. She'd looked just the same back at the summer festival.

It was rare that she found herself unsure of what to do, but for the life of her, Motoko couldn't keep herself from freezing. Her mind tried to pull her in several different directions at once - she wanted to run, to go up to her room and think, to confront what she might be feeling right here and now, to reject Kitsune for making her question herself like this.

She managed to pull herself together before she did something foolish, and simply nodded nervously at Kitsune. "I - I'm fine," she stammered. "Excuse me."

Motoko hurried up to her room and tried to meditate, but found that all she could think of was what had happened so far that day. She kept replaying Kitsune's actions on the deck and in the bath, examining them from every possible angle and interpretation, analyzing each word and movement in hopes of drawing some kind of conclusion. When she finally opened her eyes and sighed in frustration, she had to face her realization.

Unless Kitsune was playing some kind of game, the other woman had some kind of interest in her. And no matter how hard she tried, Motoko couldn't deny that there was at least a spark of the same within herself.

So, a naggingly persistent voice in her mind asked, why try so hard to deny it?

* * *

Kitsune sat on the roof of Hinata House, staring out at the sunset, three days drunk.

No, she thought, that wasn't quite right. She hadn't been completely drunk over the past three days. Just mostly, or at the very least, constantly buzzed. She hadn't wanted to do much else but drink.

Three days ago, she'd been stupid enough to start hitting on Motoko like . . . well, like some kind of drunken horny old man. She was surprised Motoko hadn't attacked her, especially afterward, when she'd found her in the bath. Kitsune had to hold herself back to keep from smacking herself on the forehead for displaying herself like that.

"Sure," she said to herself, "it worked with every guy I thought was cute, why wouldn't it work on Motoko?" She groaned, and held her head in her hands. "Just 'cause she's a little not-so-feminine doesn't mean she's going to start drooling over me!"

She heaved a sigh, then realized she'd said that last part out loud. She should really know better, she thought; for all she knew, Su had some kind of remote microphone that would just happen to be going by when she was drunkenly baring her heart and soul up on the roof. After a moment, she downed the rest of the beer she held and sighed again, supposing it didn't matter.

If anything, having someone else hear her would only make everyone sure about what they were probably already guessing. To say there'd been odd behavior from Motoko, especially around Kitsune, for the past few days would be like saying Naru thwacked Keitaro every once in a while. The black-haired girl had turned red every time she saw Kitsune, eaten very quickly at meals and excused herself as quickly as she could, and had generally been avoiding her ever since they'd been in the bath together. Hell, even Keitaro must have noticed something going on, even if it didn't involve Naru and wasn't part of his studying. Kitsune had done her best to make like nothing was bothering her, but. . . .

She had to be honest with herself. She kept encouraging Naru to do that, and if she couldn't do the same for herself, then what good was it? More than that, she had to be honest with Motoko. She knew the other girl well enough; Motoko always spoke up if she really had a problem with something. For Motoko to just be avoiding her, she was probably unsure of what she'd meant, and wanted to ask. . . .

Kitsune let the thought trail off, and stared out across Hinata, wondering if what she'd just realized could really be true or if it was just the alcohol. But could it be? Could it be that Motoko was avoiding Kitsune, and not talking to her, and . . . and blushing all the time, because she wasn't sure herself?

She started to giggle madly. Could she have been right all this time?

"Oh, wow," Kitsune said to herself, feeling her cheeks starting to turn red. "I have to find out about this."

She made her way down off of the roof - slowly, of course - and stopped by her room for one more beer, both for courage and just in case it really was the alcohol that was making her think she might be right. That, and she could always blame her actions on the booze if things went badly.

Once she was sufficiently re-buzzed (and a good part of the way towards plastered, though she'd deny it to the end), she started stalking through the halls of Hinata, searching out the dark-haired girl. "Hey, Motoko! Where are you?" She hiccuped, then covered her mouth and grinned. "I gotta ask you about deaths . . . little ones. . . ."

Keitaro came around the corner, holding a small book in front of himself and reading as he walked. He stopped before he ran into Kitsune, which was something of a surprise. She guessed she must be moving slower after drinking so much.

"Oh! Hey, Kitsune." His face turned bright red, of course. She realized that she still hadn't explained why she'd kissed him three days ago. Not that it mattered, she thought; it wasn't like he was going to bring it up.

"Yeah, Keitaro," she said, "I got a little favor you could do for me. . . ."

"Umm . . . are you sure? You seem kind of drunk." He started to back away, and she let him. This couldn't take long, she might lose her nerve, or worse, her buzz.

"I'm sure," she said. She winked at him. "You seen Motoko recently? Any idea where she is right now?"

Somehow, Keitaro managed to look even more surprised. "I think I saw her out on the deck, practicing like she always does after dinner," he said. "She should still be there."

"Thanks," Kitsune said with what she knew was a big stupid grin. "I owe ya." She dashed off, managing not to stumble around a corner, and headed for the next floor down, where she could get to the deck.

By the time she got there, she was starting to breathe hard, and had to lean against the rail to keep her balance. Her head was starting to spin, and she held one hand to it. "Must remember," she said to herself. "Running around like this . . . don't do that again." She looked up the short flight of stairs that led to the deck, and sighed. Motoko was there, of course.

She watched the warrior woman as she went through her katas, her sword flashing orange and red in the light from the setting sun, every movement controlled and precise. Kitsune could see the sweat on her forehead, and the sunlight was almost enough to make her white top just lit-up enough to see through. Almost, Kitsune thought. She knew Motoko would be all wrapped up under there, as usual, instead of letting herself. . . .

"Dammit," Kitsune said quietly to herself, "just go up there and do it."

She clomped up the steps, making no secret that she was there. When she reached the deck, Motoko was looking at her. She leaned up against the railing, and tried really hard to look casual. She didn't think it was working very well.

"Kitsune," Motoko said, polite but a little formal.

"Motoko," Kitsune said. She pushed off of the rail, and slowly started to walk toward the other girl. "Look . . . I gotta talk to you."

"Shouldn't this wait until you're more sober?" Motoko asked, raising one eyebrow. She slid her sword back into its sheath and set it aside.

Kitsune stopped for a moment, and just stared at Motoko, standing there with the sun setting behind her, all strong and controlled and sexy and. . . . "I don't know how to say this, really," she began, then swallowed hard. She paused. "Hey, you remember that time, back at the beach café, when I was tugging on your yukata and saying you were supposed to be naked underneath it?"

"Of course I remember," Motoko said quickly.

"Yeah, you do," Kitsune said with a giggle. "You're turning as red as your pants."

Motoko turned away from her. "Why are you bringing that up?"

"Because the next thing you asked," Kitsune said, slowly walking until she was only a few feet away from Motoko, "was if I had . . . you know. . . ."

"Other-teamly tendencies," Motoko finished. Kitsune thought she heard a little bit of a quiver in the dark-haired girl's voice. She started to turn around.

"Right," Kitsune said, trying to keep the slur out of her voice. She didn't want to mess this up, she couldn't; she had to be careful or Motoko could end up hating her. . . .

Kitsune took one more step, caught her toe on a knothole in the boards, and fell forward into Motoko. For a second, she thought she was going to pull a Keitaro and plant her face right between the other girl's breasts, but her knees hit first, and she ended up clutching Motoko around her middle.

"You know," Kitsune said, looking up at Motoko and winking, "you're pretty soft for a kendo girl." She then slumped down and passed out.

When Kitsune woke up, she was staring at the stars, and her head was pillowed on something soft yet firm. Her head was also spinning, and she regretted having that last beer before coming here, as well as the two or three before it. She blinked a few times, then realized there was an arm draped across her shoulders, laying above her breasts. Following the arm up, she saw that - thankfully - it was Motoko's. The kendo girl was kneeling, with Kitsune's head resting on her thighs. She was looking up at the stars as well, but looked down at Kitsune as she stirred.

"Motoko. . . ." Kitsune mumbled. She put her own hand over the dark-haired girl's, and frowned. "I'm sorry. I screwed that up."

Motoko said nothing for a moment, then looked up at the sky again. "No," she said quietly. "I think that was the only way you could have done it."

Kitsune couldn't help giggling. "Look," she said, figuring there wasn't a better time to be out with it, "I don't know what's going on with me. But I know I've been looking at you" - she squeezed the other girl's hand - "for a long time."

"I know," Motoko said with a nod, and looked down at Kitsune again. "I'm sorry, but that's why I've been avoiding you for the past few days."

"That's kinda what I thought." Kitsune looked away, then turned her head the other way after realizing she'd nearly put her face into Motoko's crotch. "I'm sorry about that. I was just thinking about you, y'know? It was making me feel all squishy inside. But if that's not okay with you, then. . . ."

Motoko didn't say anything for a long moment, but when she sighed, Kitsune couldn't help looking back up at her. She was surprised to see the look on the girl's face . . . there was confusion there, but also something she hadn't expected but had come to truly like about Motoko: determination.

"I, also, don't know what's going on with me," Motoko began. "I'm not sure how I feel. It's not something I've given a lot of thought to; my training has always been most important to me."

"I know," Kitsune said. "I really like that. It's just . . . you, I guess."

"It is," Motoko said with a small smile. "But in this . . . I don't know myself. But I want to know. And you make me think that . . . perhaps, you may be right."

Kitsune blinked. "What?"

"Why do you think," Motoko said quietly, her cheeks turning red, "I started to blush, back then at the festival? I'm not used to anyone's affections, but you . . . bring it out of me, I suppose."

"Awww. . . ." Kitsune raised her free hand, and cupped the side of Motoko's face, feeling the heat of her blush. "Maybe," she said, slowly starting to sit up, but not letting go of Motoko's face or hand, "if we both don't know, we should find out, y'know?"

"Maybe," Motoko said. She took a deep breath. "I should know myself." She paused, then, to Kitsune's surprise, she started to laugh quietly. "That sounds so silly to me, with all of this." She hadn't moved away from Kitsune's touch.

"Then maybe," Kitsune said, emphasizing the last word with a slow wink, "you should just shut up and kiss me?"

She slowly brought Motoko's face closer to her own. Somewhere along the way, Motoko freed her other hand, and started to wrap it around Kitsune's shoulders. She wasn't sure who pulled who to whom, but when she felt Motoko's soft lips on her own, she stopped caring. A warm rush swept through her entire body, and she let her hand trace across Motoko's face to slide into her hair, then pressed herself against the other girl.

It wasn't like anyone else she'd kissed, any boy she'd liked and had tried to chase. There was something soft and comforting about the kiss, something oddly fulfilling and somehow . . . right. She wasn't sure how long they held it, but when they did pull away, it was done slowly and with a small sense of regret.

They sat under the stars and looked at each other, neither saying a word, both blushing. After a long moment of silence, Kitsune started to grin again, not caring how dopey it looked.

"Well?" she asked, winking again.

Motoko swallowed hard. "I'm not sure," she said, then gave a small smile as Kitsune's eyes opened wide. "We'd better try again. To be sure."

It was a while before they left the deck that night.

* * *

Kitsune woke up with the sun in her eyes, and started to mutter. How had she forgotten to close that shade? She started to roll over, then felt something warm and soft next to her, something firm yet yielding. Oh, she thought, feeling her face grow warm. That was how.

It had been difficult to leave the deck, but once they had managed that, what came next had felt natural for them both. Spending the night together, Motoko had said, would help them to know for sure. Kitsune wouldn't have argued no matter what the reasoning, but she'd agreed - a little reluctantly, she had to admit - when Motoko had made it clear that for now, she wanted to do nothing more than share a futon. She had showed up at Kitsune's door, looking slightly sad, but explained that as feeling awkward at having to tell Su that she needed to find another place to sleep. They both had felt a little nervous as they lay down, but it hadn't lasted long.

Her face warm with memories of last night, Kitsune looked over at the other girl. Motoko looked so incredibly angelic as she slept. It wasn't as though she no longer looked like the warrior she tried to be - Kitsune didn't think anything could change that about her. But she seemed at peace now, like nothing could bother her and everything she'd been questioning didn't matter. Kitsune gently brushed a few strands of black hair away from her face. Everything they'd been questioning. . . .

There weren't any more questions in her own mind, Kitsune knew. Spending the night with Motoko, whispered talks and gentle kisses and light touches and not-so-gentle kisses. . . . They hadn't done any more than that, but somehow it had been more fulfilling than anything else she'd done. There had to be more eventually, she thought. She'd go nuts otherwise. But for now, she was content.

She was also awake. As nice as watching Motoko sleep was, it wasn't very exciting. After pondering various ways of waking her up and thinking about how much she would like them if they were used on her (a lot, she knew, but her instincts told her to move more slowly on this one), she decided to stick with the classics.

Kitsune scooted a little closer to Motoko, and leaned in close to the sleeping girl's face. She took a deep breath, stifled a giggle, and pressed their lips together in a kiss.

It was a moment before Motoko reacted, and Kitsune was about to start using her tongue, but she felt the other girl stir, and a stifled moan came from Motoko's throat. Motoko pulled away for just a moment, and gave Kitsune a surprised look as she caught her breath.

"Morning," Kitsune said, quietly but cheerfully.

"Good morning," Motoko whispered, a dreamy look in her eyes. She blinked once, then reached for the back of Kitsune's neck, and pulled her in for another kiss.

By the time Motoko's leg was draped over her own, Kitsune had to admit that she was surprised. She hadn't figured on Motoko being this passionate; she had always seemed so reserved. It's always the quiet ones, she thought. When they finally ended the kiss and separated - only a little - Kitsune grinned widely.

"So," she asked, "are you sure?"

Motoko blinked slowly, and didn't say anything, but pulled Kitsune close, holding her head to her chest. Kitsune sighed happily and threw one arm over Motoko, guessing that was enough of an answer for now. She also guessed that Motoko didn't sleep bound up, and wondered how long it'd take to talk her into making a habit of going around like that all the time.

"I am sure," Motoko said, stroking her hand over Kitsune's light brown hair. "I think . . . I've wanted to wake up like this for a long time. It feels like I should have started this years ago."

With a little regret, Kitsune scooted up until her head was on the pillow again, so she could see Motoko's face. "It does feel good, doesn't it?" she asked. "It feels . . . right, I guess. I don't know. You're supposed to be the eloquent one."

"Perhaps," Motoko said with a smile. She sighed. "What should we tell the others? Su already looked upset when I told her she couldn't share my bedroom last night."

Kitsune shrugged. "She'll be okay, she'll find someone else to latch onto for nights. As for everyone else. . . ." She rolled onto her back, stretching a bit. "Eh, screw 'em. I'm not hiding this."

"I thought as much." Motoko sat up a little, then looked down at Kitsune. Her face was starting to turn red.

"Motoko. . . ." Kitsune winked at her. "You're cute when you're blushing."

Motoko turned away for a moment. Then, before Kitsune knew what was happening, she threw the cover off of the futon, twisted herself around, and flung one leg over Kitsune, straddling her. She leaned down over Kitsune, one hand on the pillow next to her head, her black hair falling down around the two of them.

Kitsune's eyes widened. She had to admit, she almost hadn't thought the kendo girl had it in her. But the look in her eyes, the feelings there, and the feel of their bodies against each other . . . she liked it. A lot. She started to lift herself up, to run her hands up Motoko's sides. . . .

"Hey, Kitsune, are you--"

The two of them looked over at the sound of Naru's voice and the door sliding open. Her mouth was likewise open, and she stood there, utterly stunned. For a moment, none of them moved.

"Heyas, Naru! I can't find Motoko, you seen her?"

Su's head whipped around the corner of the door, and she peered into the room. If she noticed the frozen Naru, she didn't show it, but she definitely noticed Kitsune and Motoko.

"Ooooooh. . . ." She grinned widely. "Kinky." Su tugged on Naru's arm, managing to get her away from the door. She kicked it closed as they walked away, and the last thing the two women in the room heard was "Hey, Naru, can I stay in your room tonight?"

"Well, that solves that problem," Kitsune said as soon as they were gone. "Everyone will know now." She looked up at Motoko again and grinned. "I don't mind, do you?"

"No," Motoko said simply, "I don't."

Motoko leaned down for another kiss, surrounding Kitsune in waves of black hair. Kitsune pulled her close, making it a point not to let either of them start to roll. If this was a dream, she really didn't want to wake up.


	2. Big Trouble in Little Kyoto

Author's note part 2:

First, standard fanfic disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or places named in the story, I'm not claiming to, and I wouldn't want to 'cause that would result in a visit from the kind men in the white coats. Please don't sue the starving writer.

Second, this is based off of the Love Hina manga, not anime - I know some of the same things happen, but I've not seen the anime, so I'm working with what I have. The events discussed happen throughout the ninth volume of the manga, and some dialogue is taken directly from it. This falls under "fair use" for copyright issues, just in case.

Third, WARNING: SHOUJO-AI CONTENT. PG-13 RATING FOR SEXUALITY AND ADULT SITUATIONS. You've been duly warned, so don't bother flaming me. And now, on with the continuing show, as strangelove hits chapter 2!

* * *

Nine months passed, and it was good.

Sure, Kitsune thought as she leaned against the deck railing and looked out across Hinata, there'd been all kinds of weird things happening since she and Motoko had become sure about their feelings for each other. There was all that insanity around Christmas with the turtle girl, Mutsumi, and how much chaos she threw into everything happening between Naru and Keitaro. Thinking of herself and Motoko as the only normal, stable relationship at Hinata had been both funny and kinda disturbing. Then there were the actual Tokyo U exams, and how Keitaro split for some desert island when he thought he'd failed. Kitsune remembered putting Motoko into a leaf bikini, and couldn't help grinning.

Yep, she thought, nothing like good memories and a good beer on a nice, bright afternoon.

Of course, it hadn't all been wine and roses. Getting the rest of the girls at Hinata house used to the idea of the new couple had been a little awkward. Su, of course, had been cool with it since the beginning, but Kitsune had never doubted that'd be the case - the girl was a little nuts, and nothing seemed to ever faze her. Naru had given them weird looks at first, but she later apologized and said that was mostly because she was so surprised. Kitsune could understand that - she'd known Naru through most of high school, so her coming out naturally surprised the hell out of Naru. Sarah had blown it off like it was nothing, but Kitsune wondered just how much the girl really understood - she could be annoyingly adult sometimes. Haruka hadn't even seemed surprised, but that wasn't saying much. Shinobu had also been kinda odd about it at first, but she'd eventually settled down and stopped turning bright red whenever Kitsune and Motoko were in the same room at the same time. As for Mutsumi, who was over so often Kitsune figured she might as well live here, she'd never seemed anything other than delighted; then again, that was how she usually was no matter what. Even waking up naked in Keitaro's bed hadn't shaken her.

Kitsune downed the rest of her beer at the thought. Yeesh.

As for Keitaro, the only question he'd had - and one that he'd put to Kitsune privately, which she was very grateful for - was why she'd kissed him that one time. She'd explained that she'd needed to know for sure if she felt anything for a cute guy, and he'd been understanding and kinda flattered.

So, she thought, what was there now? Just the usual leisurely life at Hinata, along with the kendo lessons that Motoko was giving her and the two of them spending their down time watching the horse races. Motoko had proven to have some skill at picking winners, so the lack of recent writing jobs hadn't bothered Kitsune in the slightest. That, plus her actually feeling and looking better from the frequent exercise, was enough to make Kitsune think that it'd be real hard for life to get better.

Kitsune looked toward the entrance of the inn, and saw Keitaro heading up the front stairs, moving slowly with the cast he wore. She also saw that he wasn't alone, and frowned - it looked like Motoko was with him. But that couldn't be Motoko. For one thing, she didn't have the pyramid-like round hat, and she wouldn't be in her kendo outfit right now; she was supposed to be at school. Even if she'd had kendo club today, she would have changed back to her uniform before coming home. Kitsune liked the uniform, though she preferred the kendo outfit more, it suited Motoko better.

"Well now," Kitsune said to herself. "This could be interesting." She headed down to the main part of the house.

Kitsune walked into the entry room to find everyone else there, gathered near the woman on the couch who looked a lot like Motoko. A large bird with red-orange feathers was perched on the couch nest to her, and looked to be getting acquainted with Tama-chan, the bizarre hot springs turtle that Mutsumi had given Naru and Keitaro as a gift. Kitsune looked at the woman's face, and immediately saw the family resemblance. Whoever this woman was, she had a lot of Motoko in her.

"Oh, Kitsune," Keitaro said from where he stood behind the couch. "Good to see you're here. This is Tsuruko, Motoko's older sister. . . ." He trailed off, and a shocked look came over his face.

Kitsune suddenly found herself very, very glad that Keitaro was nowhere near as dense as he seemed to be sometimes. She mouthed "NO" to him, then nodded to Tsuruko. "Hey, nice to meet you," she said, trying not to sound nervous, then joined Shinobu, Su, and Sarah behind another one of the couches.

"Motoko's mentioned you," Haruka said from where she sat across from Tsuruko, "but I don't think she knows you're here, does she?"

"No, this should be something of a surprise for her," Tsuruko said calmly. "But I'm sure it won't be a problem. She knows what's coming."

That sounded a little too ominous, Kitsune thought. This was about to get bad. Really bad. She made a mental note not to ever think things couldn't get any better ever again; that was just asking for something to happen. All she needed now was for-

"I'm home!" Motoko called from the entryway.

Crap, Kitsune thought.

"Oh, Motoko, welcome back," Haruka said. "You have a visitor here to see you."

Kitsune didn't think she'd ever seen Motoko look more surprised - not when she first confessed her feelings, not when she wore her old high school uniform, and not even when she'd started bringing out some of the things she kept in her closet. The look on Motoko's face was one of pure, unbridled panic. This, Kitsune thought, was going to be worse than she'd imagined.

"Why, hello, Motoko-chan," Tsuruko said. If she'd noticed Motoko's expression, she sure didn't act like it. "It's been a while."

"Tsuruko!" Motoko exclaimed. "What are you doing here?!"

There was conversation for a moment, mostly about how Tsuruko had saved Keitaro from getting hit by a car, but Kitsune hardly heard any of it. She just kept watching Motoko, who hadn't taken her eyes off of her sister. Finally, something broke through that Kitsune couldn't help hearing.

"S-so, oneesan," Motoko managed, "what brings you all the way out here?" She looked like she was trying not to scream.

"Well, Motoko," Tsuruko said, calmly setting down her tea like nothing was wrong, "I thought it would be quite obvious. I'm here to take you back home, of course."

It wasn't often that Hinata house was silent, but it happened right then. Only for a second, true, but it was enough. Kitsune suddenly felt like she might throw up, and for once, it wasn't because of the alcohol. She bit her lip to keep herself from crying out.

The silence was broken by everyone at once as all of the gathered Hinata girls - and Keitaro, of course - yelled "What did you say?!"

If Tsuruko noticed, she didn't show it, but instead stood and held her hand out to Motoko. "The time has come for you to take over the family business, as we agreed upon long ago."

Motoko was visibly shaking. She looked . . . scared, Kitsune thought, and that was something she'd never seen before. "Wait . . . you want to take me back home?" She held up a hand, as though trying to wave her sister away. "B-but oneesan . . . it's not that time, yet. I thought we had agreed on-"

Kitsune couldn't see Tsuruko's face, but whatever look she gave Motoko must have been something really damn scary. Motoko froze, and didn't resist at all as Tsuruko took her by the back of her collar and started hauling her toward the door.

"Well then, shall we?"

Motoko waved frantically, and managed to yell "No, oneesan! I don't want to go!" before she was dragged out the front door.

Kitsune stood there, just as frozen as Motoko had been, and only blinked as her lover disappeared. This couldn't be happening, she thought frantically. It just couldn't. This was a bad dream, something from a hangover, and any moment now she'd wake up and have to run for-

"No!" she yelled, and ran for the doorway. She looked out into the empty courtyard, and fell to her knees. They were already gone. She blinked again, then just stared, her mouth hanging open. "Motoko. . . ."

* * *

The next day found Kitsune out on the deck where Motoko always practiced, leaning up against the railing in a daze, an empty jug of saké by her side. She couldn't help remembering the three days after she'd first made a pass at Motoko, and how all she'd wanted to do those days was drink, so that she wouldn't think about how badly she'd screwed up. Even then, alcohol hadn't been enough to keep her from thinking about Motoko. Kitsune was now learning that it still didn't work, though that wouldn't keep her from continuing to try, even if it was starting to rain.

But what could she do? Kitsune thought. Motoko's psycho sister had yanked her away without a second thought or time for any questions, and all she knew was that they were somewhere in Kyoto. She thought back to the time just before she'd left. . . . Would it have made any difference, she wondered, if she'd told Tsuruko that the two of them were together? Would that have changed anything? She shrugged, and leaned her head back, letting the rain fall across her face. It might have made it worse, might not have, she thought. If Tsuruko was that strict about everything, she probably wouldn't like the idea that Motoko wouldn't be having kids and continuing the school. It didn't matter now. Kitsune'd just stood there and done nothing, and now she had nothing.

"Dammit," she muttered. Self-pity didn't suit her, she knew that. But what could she do?

"Hey, Kitsune!"

She lifted her head - slowly, as she could feel it starting to pound - to see Keitaro heading for the ramp, holding an umbrella. She managed a small smile, though she didn't feel it.

"Hey, landlord-person," she said, trying not to slur too much. Saké didn't give as good a buzz as beer did, but it went down better. "You need to clean the deck or something?"

"What? No, that's not it," he said, looking surprised for a moment. "Come on, you shouldn't be out here in the rain."

"That's nice," Kitsune said, then leaned forward and groaned, holding her head in her hands. "Doesn't matter, though."

"Kitsune," he said, and she managed to look up. He was smiling, and holding out a towel as he leaned on his crutch. From the look on his face, she could tell he was trying to be reassuring. Either that, or she was drunker than she thought. "Come on up to my room, I have something I want to show you."

"Hey, look," she said, pointing at him clumsily, "you should know by now. . . ." She hiccupped.

Keitaro blushed a bit, but he laughed at that. "Sorry, that didn't come out right. I have an idea. Come on!"

A few minutes later, she sat at the table in Keitaro's room, drinking coffee and drying her hair off. The pounding in her head was lighter, and she was starting to wonder just what Keitaro had in mind. She couldn't help thinking that there wasn't much he'd be able to do, with a broken leg and all, but it was better than drowning her sorrows. She hoped. If it wasn't, she could just start over.

"Motoko's been teaching you kendo, right?" Keitaro asked. He had his back to her, and was rooting through a trunk.

"Right," Kitsune said. "I'm still not that good at it, though."

"Then maybe this'll help." He turned to her, holding out a katana. Its grip was bound in some strange black material, and the sheath was black as well, looking like it was made out of obsidian. "This sword is known as 'Hina: the Ominous Blade,'" he said, "and it's an Urashima family heirloom." He turned all the way around and started to smile at her. "My aunt Haruka told me about the thing and I'm not gonna use it, but I think you can find a good use for it."

Kitsune carefully took the sword from him. Something felt weird about it right from the start - it felt like the hilt was vibrating. She stifled a giggle at that. "What am I supposed to do with this?" she asked, then blinked as she realized what he was suggesting. "You don't think-"

"I know Motoko's important to you," Keitaro said, "and I hate seeing you like this. What do you say we head out to Kyoto and get her back?"

Kitsune looked down at the sword again. It was crazy. But she was going crazy without Motoko, and it had only been one day. She knew that if something like this had happened to her, Motoko would have torn apart anything that got in her way to get back together. She couldn't do any different.

"Right," Kitsune said. She let a grin spread across her face, and knew it wasn't the saké. She looked at Keitaro and winked. "Bring it."

* * *

Motoko stood on a rock in the middle of a river. To both sides, water rushed past her, heading quickly toward a waterfall not far away. There was just enough space on the rock for her to take a half-step to each side; any further and she would fall in. Should that happen, there was nothing for her to grab onto to save herself, and she wasn't sure whether or not she would survive going down the waterfall.

She closed her eyes and drew her sword, then hurled the scabbard over the water to the shore. Falling into the stance for her basic kata was as natural as blinking, even with the tiny amount of space; she adjusted for her surroundings and let herself flow through the motions. The morning sun warmed her, despite the mist from the river and falls, and for a moment, she let herself think she was back on the deck at Hinata.

Her foot slipped toward the rock's edge, and Motoko caught herself.

She slipped out of her stance, surprised to find herself gasping for breath. She'd done this practice before, though not here in Kyoto, not at the Gods' Cry School. It had been years since she'd been here, and she hadn't been near skilled enough to attempt such a thing when she was young.

Motoko sighed, and looked down the river, to where the water tumbled over the falls. She couldn't help but sympathize. Only a day ago, she'd been happily floating along in her own current, content with where the river was taking her, ready for the bends ahead but sure that she would continue to stay afloat. Tsuruko's sudden appearance had sent her over the falls, and where she'd landed, she wasn't yet sure.

She shook her head and tightened the band that held her hair away from her face, and fell back into her stance. Taking the water as a focus, she tried to get her flow back, tried not to think about what she was missing. Kitsune had loved to watch her go through her katas-

Motoko's foot slipped again, and she nearly lost her sword to the river before catching it by the very end of the handle.

'What, you don't want me touching your sword?'

Kitsune's voice in Motoko's head was clear enough; she might as well have been standing right at the river's edge. Motoko pulled her sword back to herself and frowned, bowing her head. It wasn't the first thing she'd done that brought back memories. Being back in her room at the school had felt utterly lonely; she'd hardly been able to force herself to sound neutral when her sister asked if she was feeling all right. Sleeping by herself - having to sleep by herself, instead of having the choice - had been nearly as difficult as leaving Hinata. She'd grown so used to having Kitsune around, to be without her was like being without her right arm.

There was more to it, of course; there was no way to deny that. She missed everyone at Hinata. Shinobu's cooking, Su's endless energy, even Keitaro's clumsiness seemed a world away. She'd have given almost anything just to walk past a room and see two or three people gathered around a kotatsu, hard at work studying. But she knew that she would give it all up, would flee Hinata house forever, if it meant she could be with Kitsune again.

She raised her head and looked out across the landscape, at the forest and mountains that surrounded the school. Things were very secluded up here, the better for those who lived here to focus on their studies and their technique. She knew the tales of those who had come before her; some of them had probably stood on this very rock and practiced just as she had. Perhaps their footprints were worn into the stone, perhaps the patterns of their steps could be seen etched into the rock. She wondered if any of them had stood here and contemplated the same things. Her own sister loved her husband, and she had been running the school without being taken away from him. Why did things have to be different?

"Because," Motoko said quietly to herself, "I'm a coward."

As Tsuruko was dragging her out of Hinata, Motoko had wanted to cry out to Kitsune, to tell her sister that she had someone she loved and that she must stay. But in her sister's eyes, Motoko had seen the same force of will she'd always known, and something inside of her had weakened. She couldn't help thinking she was protecting Kitsune in a way - there was no telling how Tsuruko would react to learning that Motoko loved another woman, and if she was angry, Kitsune might end up a target of that rage.

Motoko knew she would rather be away from her lover forever than let her sister loose on Kitsune. Despite how well the other woman had taken to kendo, there wasn't a chance that she would be any match for Tsuruko. So she would remain quiet, for Kitsune's sake.

The reassurance was supposed to make her feel better, Motoko knew, but it didn't change a thing. All it meant was that she was lying to her sister by not saying anything, and to herself by saying she could go on keeping this a secret. If she felt this way after only one day, how long could she keep it up?

After a deep breath, Motoko stood straight, and fell into a different stance, one with a more aggressive and difficult kata. She was a warrior; she had the strength to get through this. She merely had to find it within herself, and she would survive. How much she would enjoy it, she wasn't sure, but that wasn't important. She was a student of the Gods' Cry School, that was all that mattered. That was all she could let matter.

Two steps later, she slipped again, and her leg plunged into the water up past her knee before she caught herself.

Shivering from the sudden cold and from her near-plunge, Motoko kneeled and clung to the rock. "This is ridiculous," she said to herself. If she was going to continue like this, she would fall to her death by afternoon.

Leaping from the rock to the shore was easy enough; she'd gained her focus back as soon as she knew what she had to do. She took up her sword's sheath and hung it at her side, but kept her blade out. Confronting her sister unarmed could be foolish.

Tsuruko was in the school's small shrine, kneeling before the altar. Her orange-feathered bird sat on her shoulder, and cried out when Motoko entered the room. Motoko let out a quiet sigh of relief; this probably wouldn't become a battle if Tsuruko was calm from praying. She sheathed her sword and knelt next to her sister, lit some incense, and assumed a position of prayer. It felt a bit odd to be at a shrine when it wasn't the new year, but she knew that she had reason to be there. Perhaps it wasn't coincidence, perhaps it could help her in some way.

Motoko prayed for strength, both to say what she had to say to her sister, and to deal with the results.

A moment later, Tsuruko's voice broke the silence. "You seem tense, Motoko-chan."

Motoko bit back a retort; Tsuruko was the last person she wanted to start something with. "Oneesan," she began, "I do not feel I can stay here."

"Oh?" Tsuruko almost sounded surprised, though Motoko guessed that her sister had known something like this would come up. After dragging her away from Hinata House, Tsuruko couldn't think everything was going to go smoothly.

"At Hinata House. . . ." Motoko began, then took a deep breath. "There's someone I've left behind," she said quickly. That was enough, she thought; the blush on her cheeks would tell the rest.

"Ah." Tsuruko laughed a little at that, just enough to make Motoko blush harder. "Why didn't you speak of this before? It's not as though it's forbidden."

"I. . . ." Motoko gritted her teeth behind her closed lips; this was more difficult than she'd thought it would be. Tsuruko had never been the easiest person to talk to, and she might think differently about it being forbidden if she knew what Motoko truly meant. "I was afraid of what you might think," she managed. "It's been a hard thing for me to come to terms with."

"Love is like that," Tsuruko said, sounding more understanding than Motoko had expected. "Motoko-chan, look at me."

Motoko raised her head and opened her eyes, then looked over at her sister, trying to keep herself from crying. She saw her sister's usual knowing smile, but there was something else in her eyes, some kind of sympathy.

"Motoko-chan, do you love this person?"

The simplicity of her question caught Motoko off-guard, and she lowered her gaze so she wouldn't have to look into her sister's eyes. "I do," she whispered. She wasn't sure when it had happened, but she'd known it for some time now. She positively ached to have Kitsune by her side again.

"Do you know that your love is returned?" Again, Tsuruko's question was plainly asked, even if the answer was anything but simple.

"I believe so," Motoko said, straining to let the words out. Tears started to stream down her face. Despite her belief that honesty was best when dealing with one's feelings, Kitsune had usually opted for flirtation and play over traditional romance, so Motoko had never heard her say the words. She was sure she felt them, in her own way.

"Then we shall see what comes of this," Tsuruko said. She stood, and Motoko lifted her head to watch her. "If the one you love feels the same," she continued, "then they'll come for you." She paused, then held up three fingers. "Three days. If the one you love comes for you within three days, you both may challenge me." She turned for the door, then looked back at Motoko over her shoulder. She was smiling, showing the utter confidence Motoko both loved and feared. "Defeat me before the three days are over, and you may leave with the one you love."

Motoko let her breath out all at once, and let herself slump with relief. There was hope, she thought. A slim hope, but it was all she had for now. Perhaps she could sneak a call to Hinata . . . no. That would be dishonorable to her sister's conditions. She would have to believe that Kitsune loved her, that Kitsune would come for her.

"Please," she whispered, turning toward the shrine once again, "please. Come to me."

* * *

Kitsune stood in the aisle in the middle of the Shinkasen. To both sides, rows of seats held people who were looking at her strangely. There was just enough space in the aisle for her to attempt the basic katas she knew; too far to either side and she'd careen into the chairs. Should that happen, she'd end up bruised, though she knew that wasn't unusual for her when it came to practicing kendo.

She closed her eyes and readied the cardboard tube she'd snatched from a street vendor, then stepped into her first kata. A few seconds later, she'd knocked her wrist into a seat, hit her head on the overhead luggage bins, and hurled the tube across the train car into a sleeping old man.

"Kitsune," Keitaro said from his seat - all the way over by the window, she couldn't help but notice - "are you sure you should be doing that on the train?"

Kitsune looked down at her empty hands, glanced around at the passengers staring at her, and finally saw where her tube had ended up. Fortunately, the old man hadn't woken up. She threw herself into her own seat, giving herself another bruise in the process, and heaved a sigh.

"This is crazy," she said, looking over at Keitaro. "This is completely nuts. How are we going to get Motoko back when I can't even practice?"

"Well, we can always have Su send us something once we get to the school," Keitaro said. Kitsune wasn't sure how he managed to look happy through all of this. "Besides, we might not have to fight for her."

Kitsune gave him a look. "What, you think we'll just show up and drag her away, just like her sister took her away?"

"Maybe," Keitaro said. "But what if her sister has, um, problems with you two?"

She opened her mouth to say something, but froze, and was silent for a few seconds before leaning back into her chair. That wasn't something she'd thought about. Motoko had never mentioned what, if anything, might happen if someone else from the Gods' Cry School found out she was with another woman; it hadn't ever come up. Hell, she'd only mentioned her sister once or twice. But now, with Tsuruko dragging her away to run the school . . . Tsuruko was married, so maybe that had something to do with it. Would Motoko be expected to do the same thing, find a guy and get married, have kids to carry on the traditions? If that was true, then what would happen when Kitsune showed up and demanded the return of her teacher, lover, friend, and personal body pillow? Could she be throwing Motoko's future at the school in jeopardy just by being there? Should she even be on this train right now? What would Motoko say if Kitsune made it so she could never return to the school, could never call herself a warrior again? Kitsune had the sudden image of Motoko leaving her, walking away into the sunset, not even looking back over her shoulder as Kitsune groveled on the ground and tried frantically to apologize. . . .

"Kitsune?"

"Wahhh! I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!" Kitsune turned and clutched at Keitaro's jacket, and was about to start crying into it when she realized what she was doing. She blinked a few times, then let go. "Sorry about that," she said, and settled back into her seat. "I just couldn't help . . . thinking, you know, about what might happen."

Keitaro chuckled at that, and shifted in his seat. She wondered how he could be comfortable with that cast on. "Well, there's not much you can do about that. That's something I learned after failing the Tokyo U exam for the third time, and everything that happened with it. I used to worry so much about how well I'd do on the test, I almost forgot to study."

"Kinda hard to imagine that," Kitsune said, managing a grin. "You forgetting how to study, that'd be like. . . ." She trailed off, trying to think of a good example.

"Like you forgetting how to drink?" Keitaro asked, then shielded himself with a book when she glared at him.

When the Shinkasen pulled into Kyoto, they both got off, and Kitsune found herself suddenly very nervous. She couldn't help looking at the schedules and wondering just how quickly she could get back to Hinata if things went poorly. She almost didn't notice Keitaro calling her, trying to get her to a bus that would get them close to the dojo.

She stared out the window at the forest and mountains as the bus went through Kyoto. The place was beautiful, she could see that, but somehow it didn't register. All she could think about was what might happen, what she wanted to do. Maybe it was impossible. She wasn't sure. But, she thought with a small smile, she'd never shied from taking a chance.

* * *

It was mid-afternoon by the time they reached the Gods' Cry School. Kitsune looked the place over, and nodded to herself. "Pretty impressive," she said to Keitaro.

"Yeah," Keitaro said with a nod, then pushed up his glasses. He looked at Kitsune for a moment, then asked, "Are you ready for this?"

She stood still for a moment, and took a deep breath, trying to focus as Motoko had taught her. There was little within but conflict, she knew that, but she had to try to find some peace within herself.

After deep-breathing for nearly a minute, she still hadn't stopped feeling like her stomach was going to shake itself out of her body.

"Nope," she said, forcing a grin and wink, "but I gotta do it anyway."

She took the lead as they headed toward the school's front door. She was trying not to think about how much the place looked like a temple, but she couldn't help it. Well, she thought, it wasn't like she was profaning a place of worship, and she wasn't sure how much she really believed in all that anyway. . . . But she knew how important those things were to Motoko, and how she volunteered during New Year's festivals and such. Kitsune swallowed hard. She hadn't felt this nervous since the time she'd gone to confess her feelings to Motoko.

Just as Keitaro closed the door behind them, Kitsune heard footsteps as someone walked into the room. The steps stopped all of a sudden, so Kitsune turned to look, and felt her heart leap, then skip for just a second.

Motoko stood there, looking utterly shocked, her cheeks starting to turn red. Kitsune couldn't help grinning at her. She did resist making some kind of cheap joke about coming to save her, even though she guessed it was kinda the truth. She wanted to run up and hug her, kiss her, hold her, and then drag her away from this place as quickly as she could so they could have some time alone like she'd been dreaming of for the entire last two days. But it only took one look at Motoko's face to see that it just wasn't going to happen.

"Kitsune," Motoko said, almost painfully polite, "Urashima. It's . . . good to see you."

"Coulda fooled me," Kitsune said, though she regretted it as Motoko flinched. She walked to her lover's side, and gave her a pleading look. "What's wrong?" she asked in a whisper. "Your sister already-"

"That's what's wrong," Motoko whispered fervently, and waved for Keitaro to come over. "My sister knows that I love someone from Hinata."

Kitsune managed to keep her mouth from falling open, though she couldn't keep her eyes from nearly bugging out. Motoko . . . loved her? Sure, she'd thought of the other girl as her lover for months, and she felt a lot for her, she couldn't deny that, but . . . how could she tell, Kitsune thought, she'd never been in love with anyone before!

Kitsune managed to catch back up in the conversation as Keitaro asked something that sounded important.

"So she doesn't know that it's Kitsune?"

"No," Motoko said quietly, shaking her head. Kitsune wanted to reach out and touch her hair, but after hearing what Keitaro had asked, she held back.

"And if you and Kitsune manage to defeat her in, what, another two days, then you get to go back to Hinata?"

"That's the deal we've made," Motoko said, nodding. "Of course," she continued, edging closer to Kitsune, "she might change her mind once she knows. . . ."

"You think she'd do that?" Kitsune asked. "I mean, your sister sticks to her word, just like you, doesn't she?"

"She must," Motoko said flatly. "She brought me back here."

A door in a nearby room slid shut, and the three from Hinata turned to see Tsuruko walking toward them, holding her sword over one shoulder. She smiled politely at them, and stood a short distance away.

"Motoko-chan," Tsuruko said. "Does this mean I can be expecting your challenge?"

"It does, oneesan," Motoko said firmly. "By tomorrow evening, we will defeat you."

"Ah," Tsuruko said, walking forward to stand just in front of Motoko. "Remember, it must be you and the one you love who stand against me. None other." She patted her little sister gently on the cheek, then stepped back to look at Kitsune and Keitaro. "Welcome to the Gods' Cry School, both of you. You're welcome to stay in the guest rooms until this is settled." She turned swiftly, and headed back outside.

"You know," Kitsune said quietly after Tsuruko was gone, "that was pretty vague. You sure she doesn't know?"

"She's my sister," Motoko said with a sigh. "I've never been able to read her. She's not someone you can just talk to."

* * *

A short while later, after Kitsune and Keitaro had moved their things into the guest rooms, there was a knock on Kitsune's door. She answered it, saw Motoko standing there, then stepped back so the other girl could enter. After she slid the door shut, she stepped close to Motoko and whispered.

"No one can see in here, right?"

"Of course not," Motoko answered.

The two women embraced, throwing their arms around each other and sinking to the floor. Kitsune squeezed Motoko, unable to keep herself from crying just a little. From Motoko's sniffling, she could tell the other girl was much the same. She pulled her lover close, stroking her long black hair and not wanting to let her go for a long, long time. They both trembled, but found some relief in each other. After a very long moment, Motoko finally pulled back.

The kendo girl kept her gaze downward, as though she was ashamed. Tears streamed down her face. "I've missed you so much," she said, her voice nearly breaking. "But I couldn't say anything. I don't know what my sister would do if she found out."

Kitsune managed to free one hand to wipe tears off of her own face and Motoko's. "Do you really think it'll be that bad?"

"I don't know!" Motoko looked like she was going to burst into tears again, but she managed to control herself. "I have no idea what she'd do or say. She might discard me, might remove me from the school completely. She might think that it doesn't change anything. Or she might say that it's the same whether with a man or a woman, and that you have to marry me, after . . . after what we've done."

Kitsune quirked an eyebrow at that. Marry Motoko? She didn't even know if that was legal, but it wasn't all that bad of a thought. . . . She shook her head, and forced herself to think about what was happening here and now. "But we can challenge her, right? We have to; I know you don't like giving up."

"We have no chance against my sister," Motoko said, and from the tone of her voice Kitsune knew she wasn't just saying that because she felt sad or hopeless. "My sister is the greatest swordswoman this school has ever produced. None before her, nor any since her, have been able to match her skill."

Great, Kitsune thought. We're doomed. She threw that thought off as soon as it came. "Maybe we could run away. You know, head off somewhere, live on the road for a while like all those warriors you keep trying to get me to read about, then make our way back to Hinata after a while." She forced a grin as Motoko gave her a disbelieving look. "Hey, you always wanted to be a real ronin, right?"

Motoko managed to laugh at that, but Kitsune could tell that she didn't really mean it. "I'm sorry," Motoko said after a moment, "but I can't do that. I don't want to lose everything." She paused, and took a deep breath. "We'll face her," she said, looking into Kitsune's eyes. Kitsune had the strange feeling that Motoko was somehow feeling stronger just by her being there. "We can't do anything else. And then . . . she'll learn, about us."

Kitsune grinned widely, and winked at Motoko. "That's my Motoko," she said. "That's my little-"

"I told you never to call me that when others might hear it," Motoko said with a firm glare.

"You mean the walls here are that thin?" Kitsune asked.

"Yes."

"Damn," Kitsune said with a sigh. "And I guess your sister'd get kinda suspicious if you slept in my room tonight."

"Probably," Motoko said with a nod. She leaned forward, and put her arms around Kitsune again. Naturally, Kitsune did the same. "But don't worry," Motoko managed. "We'll solve this tomorrow, one way or another."

They spent most of the rest of that day planning and preparing. Motoko went through about a dozen techniques and tried to teach Kitsune the basics of each one of them, but by the end of the day, Kitsune knew she didn't have anything even remotely resembling a chance.

* * *

"How long did you take to learn this?" she asked, pushing up the kamikaze-type headband Motoko was making her wear.

"It's hard to say," Motoko said, wiping sweat off of her own brow. "This is the technique I perfected when I left Hinata House, briefly, last summer."

"Right, I remember that," Kitsune said, then paused. She stared at Motoko. "You're trying to teach me the Cutting Evil Strike?!"

"It's very effective," Motoko said with a shrug, "and works well as part of other attacks."

Kitsune paused again, remembering when she'd seen Motoko use it other times. "Wait. Isn't this the strike that tears people's clothes off?"

Motoko's face started to turn red as Kitsune grinned. "I told you, I need to refine my technique!"

"I'm not saying that's bad," Kitsune said with a wink, "but if you want me to tear your clothes off, you can just say so, y'know?"

Motoko stammered for a moment, turning bright red, then turned and glared at Keitaro, who was looking through a giant box that Su had shipped to the school through some strange express service with a three-eyed logo. "Have you found anything useful in there?" she demanded.

Keitaro ducked back, reflexively throwing up an arm to protect himself. After a moment, he relaxed and shrugged. "There's a few things that might come in handy, but I don't know what your sister's capable of. Also," he said, leaning toward the two women, "I'm not sure just how we should do this tomorrow. Your sister said you had to fight with the one you loved, right?"

"R - right," Motoko said, not losing her blush at all.

Kitsune turned away, acting like she was still practicing the strike. She still couldn't help feeling all kinds of doubt about this. How was she supposed to know whether or not she really loved Motoko when there was all this stress about it? Things could go bad tomorrow, and she could have to walk away and leave Motoko here. Wouldn't it be better to wait until after all this was settled to think about whether or not she really . . . really loved her?

But what would happen if things went badly and she had to walk away and only then knew that she loved Motoko?

Kitsune lowered her sword and put a hand to her forehead. Of course, she would have to think of something like that. Great, one more thing to make this all more difficult.

"Kitsune?"

Motoko's voice made Kitsune jump, and she turned around forcing a smile. "Eh? What?"

"Do you think that plan will work?" Motoko asked.

"Um, sorry, I was . . . trying to find 'now' and 'the flow' like you said, and I kinda got lost. . . ." She grinned nervously. "What's your plan?"

"All three of us will approach my sister tomorrow," Motoko said, drawing her sword and starting to work herself into one of her techniques. "You and I," she continued, nodding at Kitsune, "will have swords, and be ready to fight her. Urashima will contribute as much as he can."

"Isn't that kinda dishonorable or something?" Kitsune asked.

Motoko turned toward one of the training dummies, and squinted at it as she took a few steps back. "We're going up against my sister," she said in a low voice. "We should use anything at our disposal if we're going to win."

Motoko took a few steps forward, called out the name of her technique louder than Kitsune had ever heard her before, and swung her sword at the dummy. A wave of some kind of energy shot across the room, cleaving the dummy in half.

Kitsune raised both eyebrows, and edged toward the door. "Yeah. Hey, I gotta go get some fresh air." She headed out into the yard before either of them said anything.

Kitsune walked for a while before she realized she was still carrying her sword, but shrugged it off and kept going. There was just too much going on, she thought, too much in her head to go back and get rid of the weapon. After walking for a while, she found a tree and climbed up into it, then leaned back and looked up at the stars.

She remembered, nine months or so ago, waking up to see the stars and finding that Motoko had been holding her, sort of. While she and Motoko had done little under the stars except look at them - Motoko was still incredibly shy about some things, but Kitsune was sure she'd break her of that eventually - she couldn't help thinking of that moment every time she looked up at the sky at night. That was how things had all started for the two of them.

And now, Kitsune thought, letting out a sigh, now everything might end for them. Could she really let that happen? She was going to help Motoko face her sister tomorrow, that was for sure, but . . . Kitsune knew she wasn't a match for Tsuruko, and she didn't think Motoko really was either, after all she'd been saying. But despite all that, Kitsune knew that she didn't want to give up. She couldn't. It'd be like betraying Motoko, saying she wasn't worth fighting for, saying it wasn't worth it to try. Hell, she'd come all this way, how could she go back now?

She'd come all this way, and hardly even thought about whether or not she should succeed. All through the trip, all that had mattered was getting Motoko back by any means she could. All she'd needed was Keitaro's encouragement to get her off her ass, everything else had been automatic.

Did that mean that she loved Motoko? And how the hell would she know? She'd never been in love before. Sure, people said you'd just know that kind of thing, so she guessed if she had to think about it then maybe she wasn't in love with her, but maybe she was just thinking too much. . . . Kitsune sighed. She needed a beer to think about this properly. Hell, drinking had helped her get moving when she was questioning herself, maybe it'd give her the answer she wanted as well.

Of course, she knew how she got when she was drunk. Whatever answer she got would be how she really felt. Motoko often told her that when she was drunk she was even more . . . how'd she put it? Affectionate, a take-your-clothes-off kind of affectionate. So beer might be the answer to this one.

Then again, she thought, if she needed beer to get her answer, then she was probably thinking about it too much again. Maybe it'd be easier to think about, or not think about, in the morning. She'd have to sleep on it.

* * *

The next morning, at a rocky place next to a shallow lake, Motoko approached her waiting sister. Kitsune and Urashima walked along a step behind her. Motoko couldn't help but feel a little nervous about this ruse they had planned; if Urashima could start the battle with her, then Tsuruko would likely see him as the one Motoko loved. Tsuruko would likely try to strike him down quickly, the better to test Motoko's skill. She could count on Urashima's apparent invincibility to keep him safe. Then, Kitsune could make her own attack, and hopefully they would stand victorious.

As for Tsuruko would react to learning that Kitsune was the one that Motoko loved . . . they'd deal with that when it happened.

Motoko was trying not to wonder about Kitsune. She'd run off rather suddenly last night, and they'd had to wake her up this morning when they found her asleep in a tree. When Motoko had asked her what was wrong, Kitsune had shrugged it off and not said anything. Motoko couldn't help worrying about that; it was normally difficult to keep Kitsune quiet about whatever was on her mind. That, along with the strange sword that Urashima wore on his back, made Motoko think that there were far too many variables in this battle for her liking.

As the three of them stepped onto the rocky battleground, Tsuruko turned to them, her sword at her side and a smile on her face. "Preparations are complete," she said as her smile turned deadly. "This will be the site of our battle." She paused, then frowned. "The one you love is here to fight at your side?" she asked.

"Yes, oneesan," Motoko said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. "At my side, as it should be."

"Well then," Tsuruko said, and drew her blade. "Let us begin!"

Motoko charged her sister, staying low as she ran, letting her mind flow into place as she prepared her strike. If she could take her sister out quickly and right from the beginning, this would be mostly painless. "Ultimate Technique," she called as she leaped into the air, gathering her ki around herself. "Thunder Strike!"

She struck down at her sister in the middle of a bolt of energy, their swords clashing together and sending off sparks. Cracks appeared in the rocks around the two of them, and small boulders flew into the air away from them. Tsuruko pushed back at her, her stance showing no strain, no sign that she'd even been thrown off balance.

That changed an instant later, when Urashima heaved a small cluster of one-eyed bombs that had been in Su's package. Motoko managed to flip backward from the blast, but Tsuruko looked to have been caught in the middle of it. As soon as she hit the ground, Motoko spun around, sword at the ready, waiting for the smoke to clear.

Tsuruko stood on a patch of unscorched ground. A few hairs looked out of place, but that was about it.

"So this was your plan, Motoko-chan?" Tsuruko asked, her eyes flaring brightly. "Something so childish, so simple?" She raised her sword in Urashima's direction, not taking her eyes off of Motoko, and swept her blade toward him. A wave of energy snapped through the air, slicing through the pack he wore and spilling the weapons out across the ground. She snapped her wrist back, sending off another wave, destroying Su's supplies.

"Damn," Kitsune said, and drew her sword to charge.

She was halfway there before Tsuruko realized what was happening. Motoko leaped at her sister again, hoping for the distraction, and caught her blade in a clinch for a moment before Tsuruko swept her legs out from under her and pushed her away.

"Ho ho ho. . . ." Tsuruko laughed darkly, and turned to the charging Kitsune, readying her attack. "Now it's actually beginning to get interesting!"

Motoko held onto her hope for just a moment, just long enough for Kitsune to get her first strike in. She was proud for that single second; Kitsune had obviously been practicing and had learned the form well.

Unfortunately, it was also the most basic strike of the Gods' Cry School, the one that most students learned shortly after they first picked up a sword. Tsuruko parried it without even trying, and sent Kitsune and her sword spinning off in opposite directions.

"I recognized that," Tsuruko said, and glared at Motoko again. "Those who have not mastered should not be teaching."

"Kitsune!" Urashima yelled before Motoko could say anything. "Take this!" He reached back, and withdrew the sword on his back.

Motoko gasped. "Urashima, don't-"

There was a dry, sizzling sound to the air as Urashima was somehow illuminated in a black aura that flared and whipped around him. He made a strange "ka-ka-kak" sound as one of his eyes started glowing bright red. He held the sword at arm's length away from himself, and didn't move.

"This is bad, isn't it?" Kitsune asked as Motoko ran up behind her, returning the other woman's sword.

"Very bad," Motoko said, trying her best to remain calm. "We're going to have to take him down now as well."

"I recognize that sword!" Tsuruko yelled. "It's the legendary ominous blade known as 'Hina' that plunged the city of Kyoto into a sea of flames and took the combined strength of the Gods' Cry School to seal it away!"

Kitsune gulped. "Oh, yeah. . . . We're screwed."

"Aaaahh. . . ." Urashima said in a voice that wasn't quite his. "This body feels nice . . . a bit scrawny, though. Ah, well!" He pointed randomly at the ground. "Take that!"

Urashima leaped into the air and struck down at the ground, sending chunks of rock flying. Motoko and Kitsune dodged as well as they could, trying to get away from the sudden chaos. Urashima cackled madly as he landed, then leaped into the air again, nearly disappearing against the sun.

"The sword must be leeching the boy's life force in order to expand its dark power," Tsuruko said, sounding quite calm despite the situation. She turned, then looked at Motoko and Kitsune, her eyes wide.

"She stands by your side," Tsuruko said, then wavered a bit. "This, then. . . . This is the one you love?"

Motoko opened her mouth to answer, but found her voice caught. She couldn't read her sister's face at all. Was she upset? Disappointed? Pleasantly surprised?

A second later, that became immaterial as Urashima dove down, flipped around so he was facing Tsuruko, and pulled her face close to his. Before Motoko could make a move, Urashima kissed her sister.

"Naru's gonna be pissed!" Kitsune yelled, her mouth hanging open.

"Oneesan! Think of your husband!" Motoko called.

Urashima held the kiss for what seemed like a very long time, and when he let Tsuruko go and leaped away, she collapsed to the ground. Motoko ran over, and knelt by her sister's side.

"Oneesan! Speak to me!" She held her sister's head up as Kitsune rushed over, checking for vital signs. "It's no good!" she said. "Her life force has been drained away!"

Kitsune held her sword ready. She did the stance well, Motoko thought, but she knew Kitsune wasn't capable of taking out Urashima when he was possessed by the sword. But she couldn't leave her sister's side. . . . She turned to watch as Urashima circled the battle area, seemingly at random.

"That sword has to be destroyed," Motoko said quietly. "But we can't hurt Urashima."

"Why're you worried?" Kitsune asked, smirking. "You've seen what Naru does to him, he'll be fine!"

"That's not the-" Motoko began, then gasped as Urashima charged the two of them.

"I see you," Urashima cackled as he drew near.

"Hah!" Kitsune held her sword before her, snapping into a more advanced stance - one that Motoko could tell she hadn't mastered yet. "C'mon, Keitaro, give it-" She yelped as he swung at her, and she barely blocked. She clumsily parried his next swing, then glanced over at Motoko. "Help me, I don't wanna kiss him!"

"Circular parry, as I showed you," Motoko called. "Try to disarm him!"

Motoko watched as their blades met with a flash and a shower of sparks. Kitsune was performing the parry, and given Urashima's lack of grip strength, she should be able to. . . .

There was a 'ching' sound as Kitsune sent the Hina blade spinning up into the air, followed by a 'thud' sound as Urashima crashed to the ground. Kitsune turned to Motoko and grinned.

"All right!" she said with a wink. "And hey, we got your sister too-"

"Kitsune!" Motoko screamed, looking up to the sky, where the Hina blade was spinning rapidly in its descent.

Kitsune gasped, dropped her sword, and threw up her hands to block. Motoko watched, wishing she was dreaming, as the Hina blade dropped into Kitsune's open hand.

"Oh, man," Keitaro said as he sat up, rubbing his head. "What hit me?"

"Run!" Motoko yelled, then paused for a moment as she tried to think of what to do.

The sword took its life energy from people by kissing them, she thought, glancing down at Tsuruko. Her older sister looked like she was just beginning to recover, but Motoko could tell that she wouldn't be ready to fight. That, and considering what she knew she had to do to Kitsune. . . . Motoko knew she didn't want anyone else in her place.

She watched for a moment as Kitsune chased Urashima around the yard, then crouched. This was what she had trained for. All she needed was an opening. And if her older sister saw . . . let her. She wasn't going to hide anymore.

"Stand down, Kitsune!" Motoko yelled as she leaped into the air. Now was her time, she thought. Now, she would show her sister who she was . . . woman and warrior, with the one she loved at her side.

Motoko twisted herself in the air, much like Urashima had done, and pulled Kitsune into a kiss before she landed. She felt the energies of the sword fighting against her, but forced her own will upon them, drawing strength from within herself and from knowing she was doing what she had to do. After she'd held the kiss for a moment, she felt the dark force that had a hold of Kitsune start to flee, and once it had left her lover's body, Motoko focused on binding it into the sword.

When her task was done, Motoko heard the dark blade clatter to the ground, and held Kitsune up to keep her from falling. She didn't break the kiss until she heard someone applauding. With a bit of trepidation, Motoko turned to look at her sister, supporting Kitsune with her free arm.

Tsuruko was clapping politely, a smile on her face, looking generally pleased. "Impressive," she said, sounding like she meant it. "You sealed away something that bested even me. I must be getting old." She laughed out loud, then looked at Kitsune. "And this," she asked, glancing back to Motoko, "is the one you love?"

Kitsune started to straighten up, and stood on her own, though a bit shaky. "Are we about to be in trouble?" she whispered to Motoko.

"If we are, I don't care," Motoko whispered back, then looked her sister in the eye. "Yes," she said. Her voice didn't shake at all. "Oneesan, this is Kitsune Konno."

Tsuruko nodded once as she approached the two of them. "Then what of you, Konno-san?" she asked. "Is Motoko-chan the one you love?"

"Yes," Kitsune said without hesitation, looking a little surprised at herself. She put her arm around Motoko's shoulders, giving her a squeeze. "Yeah, she is."

"I'm proud of you, Motoko-chan," Tsuruko said, still smiling. "You've overcome a lot today, and you're worthy of being part of the Gods' Cry School." She put a hand on both of their shoulders. "As for the two of you, this is . . . unusual, but not unheard of," she said. "You are both welcome here."

Motoko felt tears brimming in her eyes as she smiled. Everything had come together, and there was nothing for her to worry about . . . and she got to go back home to Hinata. "Thank you, oneesan," she said, then tried to keep her feet as Kitsune hugged her tight.

* * *

The next morning, Kitsune stood outside the Gods' Cry School with Keitaro, waiting for Motoko to finish saying her goodbyes before they all left. Kitsune was still trying to figure out what had happened with that sword - all she remembered was trying to keep it from cutting her head off on its way down, and the next thing she knew Motoko had her tongue in her mouth. She didn't really mind, though she'd wondered what Motoko's sister was going to think about that. But even that hadn't been a big deal. So, yeah, all was well and it was time to head back to Hinata. Couldn't ask for it to work much better, she thought.

Motoko and Tsuruko walked out of the front of the school side by side, talking as they came. Kitsune couldn't help seeing the similarities between them. Another time, she might have started comparing them, seeing which one she thought was hotter. But she hardly even thought about it now. She knew that she loved Motoko - all it had take was someone else asking it, and her not thinking about it long enough to realize it. Maybe she'd just needed a kick in the head to get it right, she thought with a laugh.

Motoko stood at Kitsune's side and gently took her hand as she and Tsuruko reached the others. "Thank you for everything, oneesan," she said. "I was . . . very worried, as I said."

"You worry too much, Motoko-chan," Tsuruko said, though she was smiling. "Konno-san," she continued, looking at Kitsune, "please look after my sister for me."

"No problem," Kitsune said with a wink. "I'll never let her out of my sight, even when she's in the bath or-"

"Kitsune!" Motoko whispered firmly, turning bright red.

"Yeah, don't worry," Kitsune went on like nothing had happened. "She's in good hands."

"I can see that," Tsuruko said, still smiling, and bowed to them both. They bowed in return. "Have a safe journey home."

"We will," Keitaro said.

After one last wave, the three of them headed down the road, away from the school and back toward Kyoto.

Kitsune slung her arm over Motoko's shoulders as they walked. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I need a beer. What say we find someplace to get some food before we take off?"

"You're like this wherever we travel, you know," Motoko said, though Kitsune could tell she wasn't really upset. "Has it ever occurred to you that you should travel for something other than just sampling the food?"

"Hey," Kitsune said, dropping her hand down to pat Motoko's ass. "It's not my fault you make me . . . hungry."

Motoko turned as red as her pants again. "Kitsune!"

Kitsune laughed all the way back into Kyoto.


	3. Extras: Outtakes!

Author's note:

Welcome! The following chapters consist of the "extras" for this story - the kinds of things you'd find on a DVD, specifically out-takes, alternate possibilities, and deleted scenes. Some of these come from jokes that my friends and I made when I was discussing the story with them and talking about ways it could go, others are completely the work of my own twisted mind. Regardless, I figured they were good for a bit of fun since the Love Hina manga didn't really provide me with enough material to derive a third real chapter of "strangelove."

For the record, these extras are also rated Very PG-13 due to sexuality and adult situations, so you've been duly warned. Even so, I'd still recommend skipping over the Alternate that features Shinobu. I was challenged by one friend to make it as wrong as possible. (on that note, "Little Girls" is (c) Oingo Boingo, used without permission but I really doubt they'll read this.)

Regardless, that's enough from me. Onward, and enjoy!

* * *

**Out-takes!**

"Hey, Motoko," Kitsune said as soon as the black-haired girl lowered her bowl, "you got a little rice right here." She flicked her tongue at the corner of her mouth.

Motoko paused, then wiped at the corner of her mouth with her finger. "I don't feel anything."

"Other side," Kitsune said, flicking her tongue farther out to the side and trying not to laugh.

Motoko wiped again, then looked at Kitsune, seeming slightly confused. "Are you sure? I still don't feel anything."

"Hold on, I'll get it for you," Kitsune said. She stood, leaned across the table, and-

Author: "Cut."

"Damn," Kitsune said, "that was just getting good."

* * *

"I don't see what that has to do with anything," Motoko said, her voice carefully controlled. She started to step away from Kitsune, but was stopped when the other woman wrapped her hand around the sword's grip.

"What," Kitsune said playfully, "you don't want me touching your sword?" She winked at Motoko, and flicked the tip of her tongue across her lips. "I've got a sword of my own, y'know, in my closet upstairs--"

Author: "Cut!"

* * *

She lifted her head out of the water, trying to look like she'd been rinsing her hair, and glanced over at Kitsune. The other woman was leaning back against the rocks and had already shed her towel. Motoko frowned. This was going to be more difficult than she had thought.

Before either of them had a chance to say anything, there was the echo of someone yelling "You pervert!" from across the house, and Keitaro came flying through the air, landing roughly in the bath with a large splash.

Author: "Cut!"

Keitaro pulled himself out of the bath, and gave the author a confused look. "I thought I had a 'no flying' clause in my contract for this fic. . . ."

* * *

"Oh, wow," Kitsune said to herself, feeling her cheeks starting to turn red. "I have to find out about this."

She started to make her way down off of the roof, slipped, rolled, and tumbled to the walkway below. "Owww. . . ."

Author: "Cut! Medic!"

* * *

Kitsune took one more step, caught her toe on a knothole in the boards, and fell forward into Motoko, planting her face right between the other girl's breasts.

Author: "Cut! We'll have to do that one over."

Nobody moved. The author paused, waited about a minute, glanced at his watch, then waited another minute.

Author: "I said 'Cut,' you two."

Five more minutes passed.

Author: "I said. . . ."

* * *

Kitsune woke up with the sun in her eyes, and started to mutter. How had she forgotten to close that shade? She started to roll over, then felt something warm and soft next to her, something firm yet yielding. Oh, she thought, feeling her face grow warm. That was how.

Before Kitsune had time to think about how peaceful and sexy Motoko looked, she felt something soft reaching across her stomach. She blinked, then glanced over her shoulder. Mutsumi lay there, naked, with her arm half-wrapped around Kitsune.

Kitsune stared for a second, then started to grin. "I'm better than I thought," she said quietly to herself, then leaned back to exult. She was just starting to try to remember how this had happened when she realized that something was attached to her leg. Fighting back a sudden bad feeling, Kitsune lifted the covers on the futon to see Su clutching firmly to her thigh and snoring.

"Oh, no," Kitsune mumbled. "Okay, that's not right. I know I would have remembered that."

"Remembered what, Kitsune?" a sleepy voice asked.

Kitsune's eyes opened wide. She knew that voice, and it couldn't be, it just couldn't be. . . . But she had to know. She lifted her head and looked. Sure enough, Shinobu was curled up against Motoko's other side, looking tired-eyed and happy.

Kitsune felt herself starting to panic. "What the hell did I drink last night," she whispered.

The door to Kitsune's room slid open, and Kitsune pulled up the blanket to cover her face, trying to think of some way she could even start to explain this. She waited to hear a gasp, maybe a yell, any sound of someone panicking. When none came, she peeked out from under the cover, and saw Haruka standing there naked and smoking a cigarette.

"Did I miss anything?" Haruka asked.

Author: "Sorry, phone call . . . oh, wow. Umm . . . cut. Yeah, cut. Very cut."

* * *

Su's head whipped around the corner of the door, and she peered into the room. If she noticed the frozen Naru, she didn't show it, but she definitely noticed Kitsune and Motoko.

"Ooooooh. . . ." She grinned widely. "Kinky. But Motoko's mine!"

Su leaped into the room and tackled Motoko and Kitsune, trying to squeeze herself between the two of them.

Author: "Cut."

"Motoko," Kitsune said, leering a bit, "last night, you said. . . ."

"I'm sorry, Kitsune," Motoko said, looking away from Kitsune, blushing fiercely. "It's just . . . we need each other to get to sleep. You were Su's bed companion before I arrived, you must know what I mean."

Author: "Cut. . . ."

Kitsune paused for a moment. "That does explain a lot, y'know."

"Aww, don't worry, Kitsune!" Su said, beaming. "We can share Motoko!"

"Okay!"

Author: "Cut . . . please. . . ."

* * *

Kitsune grinned widely, and winked at Motoko. "That's my Motoko," she said. "That's my little sexy geisha girl."

Motoko started to turn red. "I told you never to call me that when others might hear it," she said with a firm glare.

"That's my little red-hot-pants. . . ."

"Kitsune. . . ."

"That's my little battousai body pillow. . . ."

"Kitsune!"

"That's my little belly-button shot glass!"

"KITSUNE!"

Author: "CUT!"

* * *

Tsuruko nodded once as she approached the two of them. "Then what of you, Konno-san?" she asked. "Is Motoko-chan the one you love?"

"Nah, but she's great in bed," Kitsune said, reaching down to pinch Motoko's ass. "You wouldn't believe--"

Author: "Cut!"

"No, wait," Tsuruko said, "I want to hear this. . . ."

* * *

"You worry too much, Motoko-chan," Tsuruko said, though she was smiling. "Konno-san," she continued, looking at Kitsune, "please look after my sister for me."

"No problem," Kitsune said with a wink. "I'll never let her out of my sight, even when she's in the bath or--"

"Kitsune!" Motoko whispered firmly, turning bright red.

"Or when she's wearing her school uniform, or when she's washing off after practicing, or when she's sleeping naked, or when she's--"

Motoko turned and glared at the author. "Shouldn't you have yelled for her to stop by now?"

Author: "I don't know, I was waiting to see how far she would go."


	4. Extras: Alternates & Deleted Scenes!

**Alternates!**

. . . in which the author asks the eternal question, "What would have happened if Kitsune had decided to pursue someone other than Motoko?"

* * *

1. Mutsumi

Kitsune woke up one day and realized that she liked girls better than guys. Being as how Naru had talked about being kissed by Mutsumi, Kitsune decided that the turtle girl was the most likely one to feel the same. Kitsune sought her out, kissed her deeply, and the two of them lived happiyurily ever after, defiling many a kotatsu and coming up with incredibly creative uses for watermelon and various types of booze.

(Note: the author is aware of the continuity errors with this, considering when the first chapter of the main text is supposed to begin. The author does not care.)

* * *

2. Naru

Kitsune headed away from the breakfast table in search of Naru. Despite the other girl not being able to do the cherry stem trick, Naru would likely be tongue-tied by the time she was done talking with her, Kitsune thought. She giggled. Tongue-tied, yes, one way or another.

Kitsune hurried upstairs, figuring that Naru would be heading for her room, probably to start studying as she always did. Something nagged in the back of Kitsune's mind. Her own room was right next to Naru's, and there was something - or maybe someone - oh, crap, Kitsune thought. Naru would likely find Keitaro where she'd left him, and that meant--

She skidded around the corner, nearly slipping on the freshly cleaned floor, to find Naru standing over Keitaro. Kitsune had to admit it didn't really look good for him - looking half-unconscious, right outside both of their rooms, with tissues stuffed up his nose. She felt kinda sorry for leaving him like that, and really sorry for what was about to happen to him, judging by the look on Naru's face.

"What are you doing, you perverted little imp. . . ." Naru began, holding up a fist.

Kitsune started to wince. This was about to get ugly.

"It's . . . it's not what you think," Keitaro managed, slowly putting up his hands. "Kitsune, she--"

"What, you're trying to peep on her too?" Naru asked, sounding furious. "It's bad enough I can't take a bath without you showing up, or that Shinobu--"

At that point, Naru pretty much gave up on words and just pounded Keitaro's head into the wall. He lay there, eyes pointing in two different directions, as Naru stormed away.

Kitsune quietly walked up to him a moment later, after she'd retrieved the first aid kit. "Hey, I'm sorry about that," she said as she wrapped up his head. "But look at it this way." She glanced down the hall to Naru's closed door. "You still have more of a chance with her than I do."

Keitaro blinked up at her, looking very confused, his glasses askew. "What?"

"C'mon, you know she likes you, she just can't admit it," Kitsune said, winking at Keitaro. She then looked away and sighed. So much for that, she thought, but she knew where Naru stood. "Damn," she muttered to herself.

* * *

3. Su

"Motoko, here's 5000 yen. Get out of the house for the weekend."

Kitsune tried not to smile too widely as Motoko gave her a very confused look. "I was planning on going away for training anyway," the kendo girl said, "but why are you so eager for me to leave?"

"Don't ask questions when you don't want to know the answer," Kitsune said with a smirk.

Motoko frowned at her. "I do want to know the answer, Kitsune."

"Okay, don't ask questions when I don't want to tell you the answer," Kitsune said, winking. "Now c'mon. Go do your training, go master a new strike or sit under a waterfall or whatever it is you martial arts-types do. Go, go!"

Kitsune sighed with relief as Motoko hurried away, though the other girl was giving her a strange look over her shoulder. Not that it mattered, Kitsune thought; by the time Motoko came back she wouldn't have anything to worry about. Neither of them would, if all her plans came together. Kitsune snickered.

She had to admit she felt a little bad about the whole deception thing. Su pretty much relied on Motoko so that she could sleep, and sending Motoko away just so Kitsune could spend the night with the crazy foreign girl again was . . . it felt a little mean, but if it worked, it'd be worth it. If it didn't, well, then Motoko would get in some training and Kitsune would be sore in the less-than-good way from a night with Su. Not exactly what she was hoping for - that amounted to a completely different kind of sore - but hey, she had to try.

Nighttime eventually came to Hinata, and when Kitsune found Su, the younger girl was looking a bit forlorn. Can't have that, Kitsune thought as she walked up to her.

"Hey, Su. What's up?"

"Motoko's been gone all day," Su said, sounding sad.

Kitsune suffered a moment of regret, then shoved it aside, thinking of the greater goal. "Yeah, she told me she was going to go train this weekend. She didn't tell you?"

Su shook her head. "Hmm-mm." She paused for a second, then looked up at Kitsune and started to smile. "Hey, can I sleep with you tonight?"

Kitsune just barely managed to keep herself from bursting out laughing. Just what she'd wanted to hear. It was all she could do to act a little reluctant. "Ehh . . . I don't know, Su, you kind of wore me out. . . ."

"Come on, Kitsune!" Su said, and leaped at her. Su attached herself to Kitsune, hanging onto her side. "I'll be gentle," she whispered into Kitsune's ear, then giggled.

Kitsune paused for a second, her mouth hanging open, then said, "Sure."

Later that night, as they were bedding down, Kitsune suddenly found herself starting to wonder. Was this even right? Was she about to try to seduce a middle-schooler just to satisfy her own desires? Sure, Su could act like she was mature, but she usually didn't even act like she was really thirteen. Kitsune had her wonderings about Su, 'cause she acted the same to pretty much everyone, and had even kissed Motoko that one time. But was Su anywhere near serious about any of that? Or was she just being a kid 'cause she didn't know any different?

Kitsune's train of thought derailed and careened off a cliff as Su tackled her onto the two futons.

"Ack! Su!" she managed to yell as her face collided with her pillow.

"He he he. . . ." Su, now kneeling on Kitsune's back, giggled. "First pin goes to Su!"

"Oh no!" Kitsune wormed her way out from under the other girl and gave her a shove, sending her sprawling. "No fair, you've had time to practice!" She leaped at Su, and pinned the other girl's shoulders down, leering at her. "You do this with Motoko?"

"Yeah, but she never tries as hard," Su said. "You're a lot more fun!" Her hands snapped up, for a second Kitsune thought the younger girl was going to grope her. She was kind of disappointed when Su just tickled her ribs, but Kitsune couldn't help laughing and had to let her go. Su leaped at her again, cackling.

Kitsune was ready for it this time, and snatched Su around the waist as she came flying toward her, and the two of them tumbled across the covers and into the wall. They struggled for dominance, working their way back onto the futons, until Kitsune decided to give it a shot and planted a kiss on Su's lips. She didn't linger, just in case, but when she pulled back, Su was grinning widely.

"Ooo, kissy-kissy. . . ." Su kissed Kitsune back, holding it until she was struggling for breath. "That was fun," she said as Kitsune tried to recover. "I didn't know you wanted to do that!"

"Been wanting to do it for a while," Kitsune said, breathing hard and grinning at Su. "Just took me a while to realize it, y'know?" She had no idea how seriously Su was taking this - not much at all, she guessed - but that was okay, at least for now. Hell, Kitsune found it a little strange herself, but figured she might as well go with it.

"Hmm," Su said, looking all quiet and thoughtful for a second. Kitsune wondered just what was going through her head, then shrugged it off when Su put her face right next to hers. "So, you wanna be lovers?" Su asked.

"Well, yeah," Kitsune said with a wink.

Su grinned, yelled "Yay!" and yanked the covers over the two of them.

It was three days before anyone in Hinata House saw them again.

* * *

4. Shinobu

Kitsune headed out to the balcony, watching Shinobu as she hung up the laundry. She cracked open the beer she was carrying, and took a swig right before heading up the stairs. This was going to require alcohol, she could tell, but she'd already made up her mind. Few things seemed quite as crazy; she couldn't think of the last time she'd done something that could be quite as messed-up as trying to seduce a junior high-age girl. She giggled madly to herself; she really hoped that it would work.

Shinobu turned and looked at her as she climbed the last of the stairs. She smiled. "Hello, Kitsune," she said cheerfully.

"Hey, Shinobu," she said, then winked. "How's it hanging?" Sure, the phrase was one she'd picked up from an American movie made in the 80s, but it was fun to use, and Shinobu was hanging laundry.

The younger girl looked a little confused. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, nothing," Kitsune said with a grin. "Hey, are you learning any English?"

"A little," she said, and flung a skirt - looked like Naru's, Kitsune thought - over the clothesline. "I'm not very good at it."

"D'you think you could try translating this song for me, though?" Kitsune said, taking a folded-up piece of paper out of her pocket. She had to admit to herself that this was probably the worst way she could think of to get Shinobu's attention, but she knew it would.

"A song?" Shinobu asked, setting down a shirt and giving Kitsune a curious look. Got her, Kitsune thought. "I - I suppose I could try that," she said. "What is it?"

"It's, um, a love song!" Kitsune said. "I only have it in English, and I can sort of read it, but I'm not quite sure what all the words mean. You want me to sing it?"

"Sure!" Shinobu smiled brightly.

Here it goes, Kitsune thought, and started singing from the paper she held.

"I - I - I love little girls, they make me feel so good! I love - little girls - they make me feel so . . . bad! When they're around, they make me feel like I'm the only guy in town. I love - little girls - they make me feel so good!" She paused, and looked to Shinobu. "You got it so far?"

The look on Shinobu's face was not one that Kitsune would call 'encouraging.' She wouldn't even call it 'hopeful' or 'indeterminate.' 'Traumatized' would be a better way to describe it.

"K - Kitsune," Shinobu managed, "I . . . I don't think I want to translate that!"

"Eh, forget it," Kitsune said, throwing the paper aside and deciding to go for broke. "I know what it means." She started to advance on Shinobu, and leaned down a bit so that they were on the same eye level. Grinning madly, she said, "And I reeeeeeally like it."

Shinobu blinked once, and tears started to form at the bottom of her oh-so-very-large eyes. "Kitsune," she managed, "you . . . you like. . . ."

"Yep." Kitsune leaned forward a little bit more, saw that Shinobu seemed frozen, then moved in and kissed her.

The younger girl didn't really start to struggle until Kitsune's tongue was in her mouth, but it didn't take long after that. Shinobu pulled herself away and took a step back, her face bright red. She then dashed down the stairs and back toward the house. "Auuuuuu!"

"Damn," Kitsune muttered. "Was that too strong?" She paused, then grinned. "Better find out!" She ran off after the fleeing girl.

Fortunately, Shinobu wasn't moving all that fast - maybe it was panic, maybe it was the fact that she was shorter, or maybe it was that her real feelings were holding her back. Kitsune clung to that last idea as she hurried into Hinata House and caught sight of Shinobu down a long hallway.

"Hey, don't run!" Kitsune yelled as she gave chase. "The song's not over yet!"

Shinobu rounded the corner and kept running. At least, she would have if Keitaro hadn't polished and waxed the floors just that morning. She slipped, and started to tumble. Kitsune sprinted to catch her, lost her own footing as she hit the corner, and slammed into some kind of eight-limbed tumble with Shinobu.

When they stopped moving, Kitsune was laying flat on her back, spread-eagled, with Shinobu kneeling over her face. Her skirt was covering Kitsune up to her forehead, and her feet were on Kitsune's shoulders. There was a moment of silence as neither of them moved. Kitsune then pushed the younger girl's skirt aside and grinned up at her.

"You smell good, y'know?"

Shinobu balled her hands up under her chin, which was starting to quiver.

"They don't - ask me questions," Kitsune sang, winking at Shinobu. "They don't - try to scold me. They don't - look for answers, they just - want to hold me." She reached up and gently patted Shinobu's butt. "Isn't this fun? Isn't this what life's all about?" She started to raise her head, bringing her face closer to Shinobu's. "Isn't this a dream come true?"

Somehow, that made Shinobu recover herself, as she leaped to her feet and started dashing down the hallway again, slipping and skating on the slick floors. Kitsune cursed for a second as she watched her go, noted that Shinobu was again wearing the teddy-bear panties, then righted herself.

"Isn't this a nightmare tooooooooo!" she belted out before giving chase once again.

Just as she was about to catch up, Shinobu rounded another corner, and Kitsune's feet slipped out from under her before she had a chance to get a grip. She slid into the wall, felt her head it, and then things got all swirly and dark. . . .

When Kitsune woke up, she was laying on her futon with a cold cloth over her head. Keitaro was sitting next to her futon, reading from one of the books he always had with him. When he saw that her eyes were open, he gave her a concerned look.

"Are you all right?" he asked. He held up two fingers. "How many fingers do you see?"

"Two," Kitsune muttered. She put a hand to her head, and felt what seemed to be a lump the size of a saké bottle. She groaned. "How long. . . ?"

"A few hours," Keitaro said. "Shinobu said you were acting crazy and that you'd hit your head."

Kitsune felt her face turn red as she remembered what had happened. This could be a problem. "Did she say what I was doing?" she asked.

"Just that you were singing something," he said with a shrug. "Are you feeling all right? Besides the bump, of course." He smiled.

"I'll live," she said with a weak wink. She was about to ask about Shinobu when her door slid open.

Naru stood in the doorway, looking panicked. "Shinobu just cleaned out her room and left!"

Kitsune groaned. Crap. That didn't work very well. . . .

* * *

**Deleted Scene #1**: Early Training Sessions

Kitsune stood in what might pass for a basic kendo stance, holding the bokken out in front of herself. Motoko stood next to her, holding a hand to her chin, appraising the other girl's form.

"Move your left foot back," Motoko said. "That's far enough."

"My legs are already sore," Kitsune said, and cocked her head at Motoko. "How old were you when you started doing this?"

"Five years," Motoko said calmly. "Your grip's off." She moved to stand behind Kitsune, and wrapped her hand around Kitsune's. "Hold it gently but firmly, don't strangle it."

"Gotcha." Kitsune adjusted her grip, then leaned back against Motoko a bit. "Is that better?"

"Close." Motoko put her other hand on Kitsune's hip, and adjusted the other woman's stance a bit. "Keep your legs at about shoulder width, for balance."

"Right," Kitsune said, and pushed against Motoko again, rubbing back and forth a bit with her back.

"Kitsune," Motoko said, starting to blush, "what are you doing?"

"Wishing you weren't wearing binding."

* * *

**Deleted Scene #2**: A Very Merry Christmas

Motoko reclined on the couch, watching Shinobu chase Su and Sarah around the room. All of them dressing up for Christmas had been amusing, though she wasn't sure how well this red dress suited her. Kitsune, of course, was another story entirely - she'd been flaunting herself at Motoko all evening, and Motoko was almost growing weary of it.

"Hey," Kitsune said lazily, sitting herself down in Motoko's lap. "Naru and Keitaro took off, so looks like the party's winding down." She leaned in close, and whispered in Motoko's ear, "Y'know, I can get you out of that dress in about five seconds."

"Kitsune, you're drunk," Motoko said, fighting off a blush.

"Only a little," Kitsune giggled. She started tugging at the edge of Motoko's collar. "C'mon. Five seconds. I bet you I can do it."

"Kitsune!" Motoko glared at her; Kitsune was starting to talk a little louder and the others might hear. "No. You're drunk, and I'm not stripping in the middle of the house."

"You didn't mind that one time," Kitsune said with a wink.

"That was different! Everyone else was gone!" Motoko said.

The room was suddenly silent, and Motoko looked around to see everyone else looking at her. Kitsune, of course, was leering madly. She glared at Kitsune, her face feeling like it was on fire. "Get off of me," she said. "I'm going to bed."

"Can I come?" Kitsune said, leaning closer.

"No," Motoko said, pushing her away.

"C'mon, I'll be good," Kitsune said.

"No." Motoko struggled for a moment, and managed to worm her way out from under Kitsune despite the other girl's attempts to cling to her.

"Are you trying to make me beg?" Kitsune smirked up at her from where she now kneeled on the floor. "'Cause if you want, y'know. . . ."

"No!" Motoko turned and hurried toward the stairs.

Kitsune paused, and looked around at everyone else. "Five seconds," she said with a grin, and ran upstairs after Motoko.


	5. Extras: Strangelocket!

Author's note:

Okay, this "deleted scene" deserves a bit of an explanation. "Arisugawa's Locket" is a long-running and excellent shoujo-ai-based story here on by Shanejayell. The story revolves around Juri Arisugawa from Revolutionary Girl Utena opening up a bar for anime lesbians. After discussion on the forums at , Shane opened up the Locket for others to use. The following story is my own little shot at it, done for little other reason than that it seemed like it'd be fun and a friend dared me to have Kitsune sing the karaoke song that she does.

You can find "Arisugawa's Locket" at /read.php?storyid992536.

The official "Arisugawa's Locket" thread at is at /forum/topicshow.pl?tid3261. page 10 has the rules for using the Locket in your own fics.

Enjoy!

* * *

**Deleted Scene #3**: Strangelove at the Locket

* * *

"You're taking me where?" Motoko asked, looking very shocked.

"It's a bar," Kitsune said, and winked at Motoko as the other girl blinked.. "A gay bar. A gay girl bar. C'mon, put on that red dress you wore for Christmas and let's get going."

"But. . . ." Motoko started to blush, then paused. "I don't like going to bars," she said.

"Awww. . . ." Kitsune looked put out for a moment, but it passed quickly. "C'mon. Indulge me, would you?"

"I indulge you all the time," Motoko said, narrowing her eyes at her lover.

"Okay, so indulge me where other people can see." Kitsune smirked as Motoko's face reddened further. "It'll be fun, trust me. Besides, we should get out of the house more often."

Motoko opened her mouth to protest further, then stopped to think. Kitsune was right about that. While they didn't have to hide their relationship here at Hinata House, it was rare that they got a moment alone. She wasn't sure how going to a bar would count as time alone, but she had to agree with Kitsune - it'd be a good idea for them to go somewhere different. "All right," she said, then thought of something. "Is it close by? Neither of us drives."

"It's right here in Hinata, we can walk!" Kitsune said, grinning madly. "And besides, if we don't have to drive, we can drink as much as we want!"

Motoko sighed. Good idea or not, this was going to be a long night, she could tell.

A few minutes later, Motoko stood in front of the mirror in her room, giving herself a good once-over. As per Kitsune's request, she was wearing the red Chinese dress she'd worn around Christmas. She was glad to see that it still fit her well - while she would hardly consider herself vain, having Kitsune make such . . . flattering comments about her physique was encouraging, to say the least. She started to blush again at the thought, though if anyone but Kitsune had asked her why she probably would have thrown them out of the room.

"Yo, Motoko! You almost ready?" Kitsune called from the other side of Motoko's closed door, then slid the door open and walked in. She pushed the door closed behind herself, and posed. "So, am I sexy or what?"

Kitsune was wearing shiny black leather pants with the cuffs rolled up, a pair of sandals with straps that went up past her ankles, some bizarre kind of black shirt with a collar that went almost all the way up her neck but left an open diamond to show her cleavage, and a pair of sleeves that went from her wrists to halfway up her biceps and served no purpose that Motoko could tell. Motoko couldn't deny, though, that it was so very different from Kitsune's usual slacker-wear, in all the right ways.

Motoko gave her a slow, deliberate once-over, then smiled at her lover. "You look very nice," she said calmly.

Kitsune pouted. "You take all the fun out of dressing up, y'know?" She grinned, then put a hand to her chin as she looked at Motoko. "Okay, I was wrong about you wearing that."

Motoko paused. "You always told me I look good in this dress," she said, a hint of an edge in her voice. "You tried to get me out of it for the entire party last Christmas."

"Well, yeah," Kitsune said with a wink, "but you can't dance in that thing." She thought for a moment, then held up a finger as her eyes lit up. "Hey, I've got something you can wear! Just get out of this. . . ." She started tugging at the side of the dress, and Motoko pulled away.

"I can get out of the dress myself," Motoko said warily.

"But we're in a hurry! Fanservice Strike, Second Form!" Kitsune yanked on the dress, sending Motoko spinning as she shot out of it.

A few minutes later, after Kitsune had dragged Motoko upstairs to her room, Motoko stood in front of the mirror there. She was now clad in a suit jacket and pants, both black, and - at Kitsune's insistence - was wearing only a bra underneath the jacket. She looked at herself from a few different angles, and had to admit it was a look that worked for her. The suit made her look tall, mature, and strong.

"It's not what I'm used to, but I like it," Motoko said, looking over at Kitsune, then paused when she saw what the other woman held in her hands. "What's that for?" she asked.

"The finishing touch," Kitsune said, and set the black fedora hat on Motoko's head. She tilted the hat slightly to the side, then glomped onto Motoko's arm as they looked at themselves in the mirror. "Damn, we look good," she said. "C'mon!"

Motoko let herself be led by her arm out of Kitsune's room. They made it all the way to the main lobby of Hinata House before running into just about everyone else who lived there. Su, Mutsumi, Shinobu, and Sarah gave the two women a greatly varied set of odd looks.

"That's a new look," Sarah said. "You two goin' out?"

"Yep!" Kitsune said before Motoko could say anything. "I heard about a lesbian bar downtown, so I thought I'd drag my kendo girl down there and check it out."

"Ah," Mutsumi said, "that sounds like fun. Can I come along? I've always wanted to see what one of those is like."

All five women looked at Mutsumi and blinked at the same time. There was a general cry of "What?!"

"It sounds like it could be such a good time," Mutsumi said, holding her hands clasped in front of herself, smiling brightly. "So many people, all there to have fun in a little private place, nobody having to worry too much . . . kind of like a hot springs, but with drinks and dancing."

Motoko gave Kitsune a sidelong glance. "She can't be serious, can she?"

"Y'know, I can never tell," Kitsune murmured. "What do you think, should we take her?"

"It's fine with me," Motoko said with a shrug. "Though I'm not sure what she'll do if someone tries to pick her up."

"That could be fun," Kitsune whispered, then winked at the exasperated look Motoko gave her. "Sure, you can come along, turtle girl," she said. "Do you want to change, or . . . ?"

"Oh, I'll just go as I am," Mutsumi said. "Shall we, then?"

The three women headed out of Hinata House and down into the city. Kitsune led them for a while, winding through the streets until they were in a slightly darker, run-down part of the city.

"Are you sure about where this place is, Kitsune?" Motoko asked after a while. "This doesn't look like the kind of place that would have a bar I'd want to go to."

"Trust me!" Kitsune said, then led them around one more corner. "Here we are!" She posed again, throwing her hand forward as she pointed toward the neon sign.

Motoko looked, then read the sign aloud. "Arisugawa's Locket." At the end of the sign, there was a graphic of a locket opening and closing, with a cartoon picture of a cute girl inside. There was a line of women outside, as well as a small group of men who looked a bit depressed. A tall woman in a trench coat stood by the front door.

"Ooh, this looks like fun," Mutsumi said, looking delighted. "Come on, let's get in line." She started pushing Motoko and Kitsune toward the end of the line. "Come, come."

Once they were inside, the three of them stopped and looked around. Motoko found herself blushing; she'd never seen this many couples in one place at once, no matter who they were. A good part of the club had tables and chairs set up, and Motoko saw a few waitresses working there - one of them was slithering along the floor, but nobody seemed to think this was strange. The dance floor of course took up a great deal of the rest of the place, where easily several dozen couples were moving along to some kind of electronic beat that Motoko wasn't familiar with. Beyond the dance floor, she caught sight of what looked like a small library, and a lit-up sign advertising that the karaoke room was open. She then turned her attention to the bar, which she was sure had been Kitsune's first place to look, and blinked in surprise. Whoever the bartenders were, they both had bright blue hair done in a sweeping, spiky style that she'd never seen before.

Motoko looked over at Kitsune, and said, "Interesting. What do you think?"

"I think I've come home," Kitsune said with a grin. "C'mon, drinks and dancing and karaoke and getting felt up by random women awaits!"

"Ara . . . that does sound like fun," Mutsumi giggled, and headed after Kitsune toward the bar.

Motoko paused again, then hurried after the other women. "I don't know how much I like the idea of some other woman touching you," she said tersely as she came up alongside Kitsune.

"Me either," Kitsune said with a wink. "I'd feel real sorry for anyone who tried to hit on me with you around."

Motoko said nothing, but nodded confidently.

"But first, drinks!" Kitsune strode up to the bar, and leaned against the counter. Motoko slid up next to her, and Mutsumi stood on her other side, looking curious but happy, holding her hand over her mouth.

One of the blue-haired bartenders leaned over toward the three women. "Welcome to the Locket; don't think I've seen you here before. What can I get you three?"

"Beer," Kitsune said with a quick nod. When the bartender asked what kind and gestured to the extensive selection, Kitsune's eyes widened. She glanced back at Motoko, and said, "We're going to be coming here a lot."

Motoko sighed. "Just soda for me," she said to the bartender. "You know I don't like to drink, especially around people we don't know," she said calmly when Kitsune gave her a curious look.

"Eh, you worry too much," Kitsune said.

"Oh, my . . . can I get a watermelon daiquiri?" Mutsumi asked.

A few minutes later, the three of them sat around a table. Motoko had a glass of cola, Mutsumi had a watermelon daiquiri in a glass nearly the size of a fishbowl, and Kitsune had seven miniature glass mugs on a tray, each filled with a different kind of beer. She was going through them slowly, sipping from each one and saying, "That's good, that's good, that's good. . . . Hey, Motoko, you should try some of these."

"You're trying to get me drunk, aren't you?" she asked flatly.

"Maybe," Kitsune said with a wink and grin.

"Oh, you shouldn't let her do that," Mutsumi said, then giggled. "I'm sure Kitsune would make you do all kinds of horrible things if she got you drunk, like. . . ."

"Like what?" Motoko asked tersely, though she could feel her cheeks turning red.

"Yeah, like what?" Kitsune asked, sounding interested.

"Like . . . making you sing karaoke!" Mutsumi exclaimed, pointing toward the sign.

"Y'know, you're right!" Kitsune said, and downed one of her small beers. "C'mon, Motoko, drink some of these, and we'll go sing!"

"I will not," Motoko said. "Making a fool out of myself--"

"Is a great idea!" Kitsune proclaimed.

Motoko sighed.

Sure enough, as soon as Kitsune had finished her samples, she grabbed Motoko's arm and almost literally dragged her toward the karaoke room. Mutsumi, still working her way through her daiquiri, said that she'd join them when she was done, but wanted to watch people dance for now. Once they were in the karaoke room, Motoko stopped Kitsune.

"Are you sure it's all right to leave her out there?" she asked.

"What, the turtle girl?" Kitsune asked. "She'll be fine, she can take care of herself. Besides, she's usually with Keitaro, don't you think she'd know how to fend somebody off?"

Motoko gave Kitsune a serious look. "Are we talking about the same Urashima?"

"Ooh, good point," Kitsune said after a moment. "But don't worry about her. You saw the bouncers in this place, right?"

"I suppose so," Motoko said with a sigh. "Now, if you're still insisting on this . . . ." She gestured toward the stage, where a girl in a sailor fuku was singing something that sounded like it could cause cavities if you listened to it for too long.

"I am!" Kitsune said. "I'm gonna go next, try to get a seat up front."

With a distinct feeling that she was going to regret this - she could already see the alcohol taking effect on Kitsune - Motoko managed to find herself a seat in the first row. The woman in the fuku finished before too long, and Kitsune strode onto the stage with a grin on her face that Motoko recognized. Whatever it was she'd chosen, it was going to be embarrassing.

"All right, this one's for my little kendo hot-pants up here," Kitsune said, then flicked her tongue at Motoko.

Women all around her started laughing and cheering, and Motoko put a hand to her forehead. Just when she was starting to wonder how it was going to get worse, Kitsune started singing.

"Oh do it all night, do it with me! I'll take you to heaven if you make me feel free, babe. . . ."

Motoko put both hands over her face, and took a deep breath. She'd only heard this song once, coming from an arcade when she was downtown with Su after school, and it had been bad enough then. . . . Somehow, the fact that this place seemed to have the lesbian lyric mix only made it worse.

"You! - may have good sex, with Jill and Kate and Meg and Jess! It! - may be okay, with Kelly, Milly, Beth, and May! You! - may do it again, with Jude and Kris and Mel and Jen! But you're gonna feel so free - when you're doin' it with me!"

By the time Kitsune was done with the song - the longest four minutes of her life, Motoko was sure - she'd had lewd comments whispered to her by more than a few other women in the room, along with a great deal of shoulder and back pats that she hoped were meant to be sympathetic. Kitsune walked off of the stage to a great deal of cheering, and stepped in front of Motoko, then gently took her face out of her hands and gave her a deep, long kiss in front of everyone.

Motoko's head was spinning a bit by the time Kitsune finished. "All right, I forgive you," she said as Kitsune flopped into the seat next to her.

"Good," Kitsune said with a wink. "Now get up there and make me proud," she said, adding a little pat on Motoko's ass for emphasis.

"Fine," Motoko said as she stood, "but I'm not faking an orgasm on-stage."

"Damn."

Motoko looked through the list of songs once she was standing by the karaoke machine. Most of the songs she didn't know, and for most of the few she did, she'd have to commit suicide if she allowed herself to be caught singing them in public. After a bit more searching, she finally saw one that would do. She hadn't heard it since she was much younger, back when she'd been drawn into the animated adventures of a young man whose life also followed the way of the warrior.

Motoko pushed a few buttons, picked up the microphone, and smiled at Kitsune. Her lover looked a bit too plastered to recognize her, but that was all right; it would feel good to sing this.

"Kowareru hodo aishitemo, sanbun no ichi mo tsutawaranai. . . . Junjou na kanjou wa karamawari, I love you sae ienaideiru my heart. . . ."

She sang her heart out, and by the time she was done, Motoko felt utterly drained. But the grin on Kitsune's face was worth it. Kitsune stood as Motoko finished, and met her halfway to the stage.

"Hey, that was. . . ." She trailed off, and just kissed Motoko on her cheek, then whispered, "Thanks. Wanna go dance?"

"All right," Motoko said, and the two of them walked out with their arms around each other.

Just after they exited the karaoke room, a woman walked up to the two of them. She was as tall as Motoko, and had orange hair done in thick curls that hung straight down past her shoulders. Her dress seemed odd for this place - she was clad in a pair of pants that matched her hair and a uniform-type top that made her look very much like the person in charge. She fixed her blue eyes on Motoko and Kitsune as the two of them stopped.

"Hello, is this your first time here?" the woman asked. When Kitsune and Motoko nodded, she said, "Welcome to the Locket. I'm Juri Arisugawa, I run this place."

"Kitsune Konno," Kitsune said. "This-" She pinched Motoko's ass. "-is Motoko Aoyama. She's mine."

"Kitsune!" Motoko glared at her.

"I can see that," Juri said with a faint smile that might have almost been a smirk. "I'm glad to see you're having a good time, but I have to ask you something."

"What is it?" Motoko asked, looking concerned. She suddenly remembered Mutsumi - she'd been worried, but after Kitsune had started singing, she'd forgotten about the other woman.

"Did you two bring a friend with you? A dark-haired woman, wearing a plain dress and with two antennas in her hair?" Juri asked.

Motoko and Kitsune looked at each other and blinked. "I told you we should have brought her with us," Motoko said.

"Yeah, that's our Mutsumi," Kitsune said. "What'd she do?"

"She's been on the dance floor," Juri said with a sigh, "kissing everyone she can. Nobody's been able to ask her to stop, she kisses them once they get close enough. Naturally, this is causing problems with some of our resident couples."

Motoko grimaced. "I can see that," she said. "We'll take care of her. I'm sorry about this, Arisugawa."

"It's all right," Juri said with another faint smile. "Just get her under control, please."

"On our way," Kitsune said, tugging Motoko along toward the dance floor. "Hey, Mutsumi! Time for a break!"

Mutsumi twirled in place at hearing her name, and beamed at Kitsune as she came closer. Mutsumi's face was bright red, and she looked to be wearing at least three different kinds of lipstick. "Oh, Kitsune! There you are! I'm having such a good time! Everyone here's so friendly. . . ."

"That's great, Mutsumi," Kitsune said, then caught the woman by her shoulders as she tried to move in for a kiss. "Time for you to sit down." She struggled as Mutsumi tried harder, pressing her face closer. "Motoko . . . you're the strong one, get her off of me!"

Motoko came up behind Mutsumi, and gently pried her off of Kitsune. "Please, Mutsumi," Motoko said, "you're embarrassing yourself."

"Oh my . . . I am?" Mutsumi asked, suddenly looking concerned. "I didn't mean to. . . ."

Motoko gently guided Mutsumi back to a table, then ordered her something to eat so that she wouldn't go on another kissing spree. By then, Kitsune had returned to the table.

"So," Kitsune said, leaning up against Motoko, "you think it's safe to dance now?"

She sighed, then chuckled. "I was starting to think we'd never get to it."

Motoko took Kitsune's arm in hers, and the two of them made their way to the dance floor. A slow song started playing, one that almost resembled a waltz, and Motoko took the lead, smiling warmly as Kitsune melted into her as they danced. It was a while before she realized that they'd never done this before, as it felt like they knew the steps by heart.

"Kitsune?" Motoko said after their first song ended.

"Mmh?" Kitsune asked, her face half-buried in Motoko's shoulder.

"We need to come back here," she said.

"Mm-hmm," Kitsune said.

Motoko smiled to herself. It seemed odd to be feeling so close and personal in the midst of so many people, but it was a good feeling. When she and Kitsune needed time away from Hinata House, they would definitely have to return to the Locket.


	6. Ronin and Heart, Part 1

**_Ronin and Heart, Part 1_**

"You're distracting me."

"Aww, c'mon," Kitsune said, giving Motoko a wink as she set a tray on her kotatsu. "You're studying, you gotta keep your energy up." There was a glass of tea and several rice balls on the tray, made by Shinobu of course, as Kitsune still preferred to let others cook. Not that she was much different herself, Motoko thought, but she had her reasons. "If you're gonna wear yourself out, it'd be better if it was something I could help with, y'know?"

"I mean it," Motoko said. She gave Kitsune a stern look. "I need to be studying, not . . . not. . . ."

Kitsune stood and posed, looking as though she was trying to look innocent, holding her arms in front of herself and pushing up her breasts. "Not what?" She grinned. "You're blushing again."

Motoko slammed her pencil onto the table and glared at Kistune. "Not watching you prance around in that outfit!"

While Motoko had to admit that she didn't exactly disapprove of the slightly ridiculous maid outfit that Kitsune was in, it did make it very difficult to concentrate on anything else. And concentrating was something she sorely needed to do. With the exams for Tokyo U only a week away, there was little in her life right now that was more important than cramming as much as possible into her head and hoping that it would stay there long enough for her to pass the test. With all the studying she'd been doing, Motoko had developed some appreciation for everything that Urashima had gone through in his ronin days. Yet with Kitsune around, she was also starting to understand how he'd felt about studying in the same room as Naru.

However, had Kitsune also been trying to study, things would have been considerably different.

Motoko sighed, then pushed up the rising-sun headband she wore and gave Kitsune a weary look. "I'm sorry," she said, trying to smile, "but I really have to keep at this. You know how important it is for me to get into Tokyo U."

"I know, I know," Kitsune said. "And I'm here for you, you know that." She leaned forward and brushed Motoko's hair back from her face, then kissed her on the cheek, making her smile. Kitsune then whispered in her ear, "And when you need to relax, I picked up a book on massage." She reached around and trailed a finger up Motoko's spine, sending a shiver through her.

"Kitsune," Motoko said firmly after taking a second to catch her breath. "I need to concentrate. You're really not helping."

"Oh, fine," Kitsune said, then winked at her as she stood. She headed for the door, then paused. "You'll make it to bed tonight, right? It's . . . y'know, kinda cold and lonely without you." She looked faintly sad for a moment, though she didn't hold the expression for long.

Motoko shook her head. "I can't promise," she said, "but I'll try." She gave her lover a small smile. "I don't like waking up alone much either," she said quietly.

Kitsune smiled back, and for a moment, she looked devoid of her usual lechery, seeming almost innocent in some very bizarre, nearly impossible way. Motoko had to admit, she liked that kind of smile; when Kitsune went beyond the flirting and teasing and showed that yes, she did in fact love her. It made Motoko feel warm inside, and she knew that the heat she felt in her face wasn't due to embarrassment or nervousness.

Kitsune then flashed her red panties for a second before heading out of the room and shutting the door behind her, completely ruining the moment and leaving Motoko to glower at nobody.

She put a hand to her forehead and sighed, then took a sip of the hot tea, trying to clear her head. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate Kitsune's slightly warped attempt to help, it was just that the other woman was, to put it bluntly, insatiable. Under normal circumstances, Motoko wouldn't have minded at all. But she was trying to get into Tokyo U, to show that she was the best both with the sword and in her studies. It was demanding, it was time-consuming, and it was making her feel much older than she was.

It would be worth it in the end, Motoko thought. She'd seen how happy Naru and Keitaro had been once they'd learned that they'd passed the tests. She wasn't quite sure when she'd decided to aim for Tokyo U - it was possible, she thought, that Shinobu's somewhat childlike yearnings had prompted her - but she knew it was a goal that she had to stick with. She just hoped, she thought with a small frown, that it wouldn't put too much strain on things with Kitsune.

Then again, it wasn't as though there was much about their relationship that could be strained. Things had been remarkably simple, she knew that. She loved Kitsune, who loved her; what more was there to worry about? With that in mind, Motoko nodded to herself and turned back to her studies, eager to regain her focus.

* * *

"Hey, Naru, can I talk to you?"

Kitsune poked her head into Naru's room, and saw that her old friend was sitting at her desk in the house's padded robe, working with a few piles of notes and muttering to herself under her breath. She had a moment of deja vu before realizing that Naru was probably just going over her stuff for the class she was tutoring. Naru had really been throwing herself into that ever since Keitaro left for the States, Kitsune thought. It was kind of cute how she kept denying that she even liked him, but anyone could see it.

Naru looked up and blinked after a second, then blinked again after seeing how Kitsune was dressed. "Kitsune? If this is about your rent, I don't think working as a maid counts--"

"What? Oh!" Kitsune grinned. "No, I was just bringing Motoko some tea and service. You busy?"

"Sort of," Naru said, gesturing to her papers. "But what's up?"

Kitsune stepped into Naru's room and closed the door, then leaned against the wall by Naru's desk. "When you and Keitaro were studying all the time, and he was really into it, did you ever start to think that he was getting a little too into it?"

"What - what do you mean?" Naru asked, looking flustered for a moment. "It's not like how it is with you and Motoko," she said, waving her hands back and forth.

"Close enough," Kitsune said with a smile and wink. "It's just that . . . I don't know." She sighed. "Motoko's been doing nothing but studying for the past three months, she's just as bad as you guys ever were." She paused. "At least she's not rolling around on the floor and screaming 'I can't do it,' but she does keep threatening to commit harakiri if she doesn't make it."

"I don't think you need to worry about that," Naru said calmly, though she was smiling. "Motoko's as sensible as any of us, maybe more, most of the time."

"Well, yeah," Kitsune agreed. "She's dating me, so I'd think that's pretty obvious." She smirked at Naru. "But no, that's not really what I'm worried about. It's like all she ever wants to do is study. She's not even training as much as she used to, and she hasn't given me a kendo lesson in a week. And she's tired all the time, so it's not like we're, y'know, getting much quality time in bed either."

"Hmm." Naru frowned a bit, and looked down, though Kitsune saw she was turning a little red. "I don't really know. Maybe she just wants to make sure she passes; you know how she can be about mastering something."

"No kidding," Kitsune said with a shudder. "Did you see that time when she tied me to a log so she could practice that Boulder Cutting Blade?"

Naru pulled back, still frowning. "Is that the one that tears peoples' clothes off?"

"No," Kitsune said, then added, "I wish," leering a bit. "But it's weird. Sure, she's dedicated to that. But I'm worried about all her studying. I'm worried about. . . ." She gestured vaguely, then leaned back and sighed again.

"Kitsune." Naru leaned forward, giving Kitsune a small smile. "You keep telling me to be honest, so why don't you? If it's really something you're worried about, then why don't you just tell her?"

Kitsune started to say something, paused, then blinked at Naru. "Wait, why am I coming to you for relationship advice?" She grinned and ducked as Naru started to glare. "Especially when you just tell me the same thing I keep telling you?"

"Kitsune!" Naru yelled, fuming.

"Oh, I'll be nice," she said. "But yeah, you're right. Then again," she said with a shrug, "who else could I really go to for advice in this house? Shinobu'd just blush, Su's crazy, Mutsumi just keeps asking for details, and Haruka. . . ." Kitsune paused, putting her hand to her chin as she thought. "Haruka might not be such a bad idea."

"Probably," Naru said with a nod. "She's still working things out with Seta, so she might know what you're going through. He's always so focused on his digs and what he finds, half the time he hardly knows she's there."

Kitsune had to grin at that. "No kidding. She's still going to be at the café this late at night, right?"

"Yeah, but Mutsumi's probably going to be there too," Naru said. "Like you said, she's going to ask for details."

"Maybe," Kitsune said. "But Haruka might also, and stuff like that's more fun with an audience of more than just one." She winked at Naru as the other girl's eyes opened wide, then sped out of her room.

* * *

"Ah. . . . Finally."

Motoko closed the last of her history books, and rubbed at her tired eyes. That was the last of it, she thought. She'd been through all of the basics, knowing them for the most important part, as she'd heard from Naru and Urashima countless times. Their studying techniques, as well as the tutoring she'd been getting from Naru, had been helpful in more ways than she could count.

She glanced up at the clock. It was just after nine. Good, she thought; she would have time to get in some practice and take a quick bath before bed. First, though, she'd have to find Kitsune and tell her that perhaps they could both make use of the massage book - her back was more than a little sore from sitting all day, and she loved the thought of returning the favor.

After putting on her kendo garb, Motoko headed out of her room in search of her lover. She ran into Su and Sarah first, who were careening through the halls as usual. For some reason, Su was still wearing her santa hat, even though Christmas had been about two months ago.

"And Motoko is freed from her books!" Su yelled as she ran up to Motoko and skidded to a halt. "Whatcha up to?"

"Just looking for Kitsune before I begin my night's practice," Motoko said with a smile. "Have you seen her?"

"Nope," Su said, "thought I saw her goin' out of Naru's room in that maid dress, but that was a while ago." She then whipped off her hat and planted it on Sarah's head for no apparent reason.

"Stop it!" Sarah pulled the hat up so it didn't cover her eyes, then grinned up at Motoko. "What's the matter? Lovers' quarrel?"

"I--" Motoko blushed for an instant, then shook her head. "Nothing like that. I just wanted to ask her about something."

"Okay, gotcha," Sarah said. "Just thought maybe she was goin' after Naru now that the dork's gone."

Motoko frowned, and gave Sarah a hard glare. "I sincerely doubt that," she said, then smiled to herself. It was difficult to picture something less likely happening; not only was she sure that Kitsune loved her, she also knew that Naru wouldn't do such a thing. Kitsune might joke about something like that, of course, but she would never be serious. If she'd been in Naru's room wearing the maid outfit, then she must have gone there right after bringing the tea and rice balls.

That, however, was enough to give Motoko pause. What reason would Kitsune have for needing to talk to Naru right away? One would think that she would change, so as not to be prancing around Hinata House in the maid outfit. . . . Then again, this was Kitsune, who'd never had trouble with flaunting anything to anyone. Motoko sighed.

"I'm sure she's around here somewhere," she said, "but thank you."

"Okies," Su said, then snatched the hat back off of Sarah's head and took off down the hall. Sarah, for some reason, followed.

Motoko couldn't help smiling at them. Life at Hinata was never boring, but those two seemed to add a great deal to the general state of chaos.

A short while later, Motoko stood on the outside deck, practicing a thousand strokes under the light of moon and stars. Her sword's black blade flickered and flashed silver as she swung, leaving trails that glowed for an instant before fading. This was something she could not neglect, she thought, no matter what. If she was to prove herself as both woman and warrior, then she must tend to both sides, and come out on top no matter what. Her center test had gone quite well, so she felt certain that she was up to the task of passing Tokyo U's entrance exam.

After her strokes were done, Motoko sheathed her blade and wiped the sweat from her forehead with a towel. One more week, she thought. One more week, and then all her work would pay off. She could understand what Naru and Urashima had gone through for their exams, and why they'd both been so nervous, but she had to admit that she didn't feel quite the same way. She was strong, she was prepared, and she hadn't a doubt that she could do it.

She was also cold, Motoko thought with a shiver, and headed back into the house, in search of Kitsune yet again. A bath was always nice before bed, and she had to admit that they were always better with Kitsune around. Something about the warmth, and just leaning close to each other. . . . She smiled warmly, feeling her face begin to heat. Perhaps she had been spending too much time studying recently, she thought.

Motoko found Shinobu in the kitchen. The younger girl was setting some meat out to defrost for tomorrow's breakfast, and gave Motoko a bright smile as she walked in.

"Have you seen Kitsune?" Motoko asked, then frowned when Shinobu shook her head.

"Su asked if I'd seen her a while ago," Shinobu said, "but it looked like Sarah was chasing her, so I didn't really get to answer."

"That sounds about right," Motoko said with a quiet laugh. "I'll search for a bit more, then I'll be in the bath; tell her to come join me if you see her."

"All - all right," Shinobu said, starting to blush.

Motoko headed to the washroom, laughing a bit at old memories and thinking of how some things never seemed to change. While Shinobu had grown up a good deal in the time she'd been at Hinata, it seemed that there were some things that would always fluster her. It wasn't truly a bad thing, though. If nothing else, Kitsune would come to find her when if Shinobu saw her, though Motoko was sure that Kitsune would tease the younger girl a little for her blushing.

However, Kitsune never did join Motoko in the bath, and half an hour after she'd arrived, she left with a frown. Something else must be going on, she thought; Kitsune would have come running if given the opportunity. Perhaps she'd already gone to bed, though Motoko didn't think that was very likely.

It wouldn't hurt to check, though.

Motoko put on her sleepwear and sneaked to Kitsune's room, then slid open the door as quietly as she could. She could see the futon on the floor; Kitsune never seemed to bother picking it up. Motoko crawled over, but by the time she reached it, she could tell that it was empty. She sighed, but slid under the cover anyway. She could stay awake until her lover arrived, she thought with a yawn. Of course she could.

* * *

"So that's what it's like, she just studies and studies and it's like we don't even have time to see each other, and we live in the same house!"

Kitsune leaned forward over her beer, trying not to cry, not caring that she was being really melodramatic. Something about Café Hinata just brought it out of her, and the fact that she'd come here for advice only seemed to make it worse. Mutsumi was sitting next to her at the table, patting her shoulder to comfort her, while Haruka sat across from her, smoking as always. Tama-chan, the resident bizarre hot springs turtle, was perched on Mutsumi's head. A plate with a few watermelon rinds and a few dozen seeds on it sat on the table in front of Kitsune.

Haruka puffed out a cloud of smoke, then shrugged. "Love's like that sometimes," she said.

Kitsune blinked at her. "Y'know, I kind of thought you'd have a little more to say than that," she said. "Then again, you're dating Seta, so maybe not."

"The dating thing's up for debate," Haruka said pointedly. "But I can see how you're worried. Things have been rosy for you two so far, right?"

"Pretty much," Kitsune said, then downed the rest of her beer. "There was that one time when her crazy sister yanked her off to Kyoto, but that's about it for problems."

"Right," Haruka said. "So the first time something like this comes up, and it looks like it could last a while, you're getting worried. No surprise there."

"Studying takes a lot of focus," Mutsumi said, looking oddly serious. "Kei-kun and Naru-san and I all had to put in so much work to make sure we passed." She paused, then smiled. "It's good that Motoko has a kotatsu, they're so helpful."

Kitsune had to grin at that. Leave it to Mutsumi, she thought, to find the simple and oddly cheerful way to look at this. She did have to admit that there were advantages to the kotatsu, like that one time-

"Ara . . . you're turning red, Kitsune," Mutsumi said. She leaned forward. "Have you had too much to drink? Or are you thinking of something you feel like sharing?"

"Umm . . . just. . . ." Kitsune put a hand to her mouth and giggled. "Yes. Kotatsus are good. Anyway," she continued, looking back to Haruka - who looked a little too interested, Kitsune thought - "it's bothering me." She frowned; it wasn't easy to say all this but she had to get it out. She had to be honest, just like Naru had said, just like she herself kept saying. "I know she really wants to get into Tokyo U, I know it's important to her. But I just feel. . . ." She gestured vaguely.

"Neglected?" Haruka offered.

"Unfulfilled?" Mutsumi asked.

"Ignored?" Haruka suggested.

"Frustrated?" Mutsumi hinted.

"Myuh?" Tama-chan said.

"Myuh," Kitsune said. "Definitely myuh."

"You're so eloquent sometimes, Tama-chan," Mutsumi said with a giggle.

"Look, just go back and tell her what you told us," Haruka said, and ground out her cigarette in an ashtray. "Motoko will listen, you know that. It's when you stop talking that everything starts to fall apart."

"Yeah. . . ." Kitsune reached for her beer, found it empty, and shrugged, then slowly got to her feet. "Yeah, you're right. She's just been so busy, I didn't really want to bother her."

"Oh, but you'll be bothered more if you don't say anything, won't you?" Mutsumi asked.

Kitsune looked down at the turtle girl, who was holding a hand to her mouth and looked perfectly innocent. How could Mutsumi be so perceptive, she thought, and yet so clueless, often at the exact same time? But Kitsune knew that she was right.

"Yeah," Kitsune said with a slow nod. "Yeah, I will." She sighed. "Haruka, thanks for the beer, and the advice. Mutsumi, thanks for the watermelon and for reminding me about the kotatsu thing." She winked at the other girl, who just kept smiling.

"Anytime, Kitsune," Haruka said. "Just don't screw it up."

That, Kitsune thought as she headed back down to Hinata House, was the last thing she wanted to do. She was happy with Motoko, and that was probably why she was feeling all awkward about messing with it in any way. It was like if she said anything, she thought, then it'd get all weird, and things wouldn't be the same. But if she didn't say anything, then it might get worse, and then where would she be?

"Doomed," Kitsune said to herself, and hurried back to her room.

She heard Motoko's breathing as soon as she arrived, and grinned widely when she saw that there was someone in her bed. Oh, good, she thought. Her little sexy kendo girl had been thinking the same thing, or at least something close enough. She quietly stripped out of the maid outfit, watching the futon to see if Motoko had heard her, then slipped under the cover.

"Hey, love," Kitsune whispered, "I'm--"

Motoko's breathing was slow and even, and as peaceful as she looked, Kitsune could tell that she was fast asleep. "Damn," Kitsune whispered, then snuggled close to her as well as she could. It wasn't what she wanted - okay, it was supposed to be part of what she wanted, not the entire thing - but it'd have to do, she thought, though she did feel a little cheated. But it was the first time Motoko had been in her futon for a while.

Eh, Kitsune thought, they could talk tomorrow; no point in waking her up just to start complaining. For now, this would be enough. Kitsune draped one arm over Motoko, then rested her head on the pillow and drifted off to sleep.


	7. Ronin and Heart, Part 2

_**Ronin and Heart, Part 2**_

"It's over."

Kitsune blinked a few times, coming awake at the sound of Motoko's voice. ". . . what?"

"It's over," Motoko said with a deep sigh, and pulled the band off of her head, letting her hair fall down to her waist in black waves. "I'm done. There's nothing more I can do."

"Aww. . . ." Kitsune curled tighter around Motoko from where she lay, hooked around the kendo girl like a horseshoe. She'd wound herself behind Motoko as she'd been studying, mostly because she just felt like being close to her but hadn't wanted to keep her from getting work done. Kitsune rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, and leaned up on one elbow, then reached out and stroked her hand down Motoko's hair. "That's great, y'know? Now you can finally relax."

Motoko let out a cynical laugh at that, then slumped forward onto the kotatsu. "Not quite," she said, "not yet. I need to eat well and get a good night's sleep - oh, stop that, you know what I mean," she said, starting to blush.

"Hey, if it gets you ready for the test," Kitsune said with a wink. "But yeah, I do know what you mean." She paused, and leaned closer to Motoko. "But I also have a surprise for you."

"Oh?" Motoko said slowly, still looking down at the table. "You do?" She looked over at Kitsune, seeming almost nervous.

"It's just a little something," Kitsune said. She brushed Motoko's hair back from her ear, then nibbled lightly on her earlobe. "And it's something that I know you'll love," she whispered.

Motoko shivered for a second, then pulled back and looked at Kitsune. "That's - that's not quite what I meant," she said, sounding slightly nervous.

Kitsune pouted, looking somewhat hurt, though she smiled on the inside. She knew what Motoko was thinking, and while she liked it, it wasn't what she'd been planning. She started to stand up. "Indulge me, would you?"

"Not that again," Motoko said flatly.

"Motoko!" She knelt, and wrapped her arms around the other woman's waist, pressing herself to her back. "Trust me, okay? I've been planning this for a while." She took a deep breath, smelling Motoko's hair, then peeked around her shoulder. "Please?"

Got her, Kitsune thought. By now, she knew that look on Motoko's face. She was resisting, partly out of some bizarre habit and partly because every once in a while she still felt chaste, but Kitsune knew her well by now. Motoko would cave in, and then her surprise would come. Kitsune started to grin. If this were any better, she'd be getting a buzz from it.

"I suppose," Motoko said slowly, "it wouldn't hurt, the night before the test."

"I knew you'd say that," Kitsune whispered, and slid her hands up Motoko's body, then grabbed her arms and helped her to her feet. "C'mon," she said.

"I should have known you'd need something from your room," Motoko said, though she was smiling. She pulled up the straps on her tank top, then put one hand over Kitsune's. "Am I going to need to dress up for this?" she asked, starting to blush.

Kitsune felt her own face growing warm at the tone of Motoko's voice, and almost regretted what she was about to do. "Yeah," she said quickly. "It's in my room, c'mon."

They headed up to Kitsune's room, and Kitsune pushed Motoko inside before anyone else saw them. She put a finger to Motoko's lips to keep her from saying anything, then hurried over to her closet and pulled out two yukata.

"Remember these?" Kitsune asked with a wink.

Motoko blinked, then started to smile as a look of dawning comprehension came over her face. "I do remember," she said quietly. "Those are from the beach café, when we went to the festival." She walked close to Kitsune, and stroked her fingers down the soft cloth. "You remembered the one I wore," she said, looking at her lover happily.

"What, you think I'd forget something like that?" Kitsune asked, trying to sound hurt but knowing she wasn't fooling anyone. "You gotta promise me something, though."

"What's that?" Motoko asked.

"Go naked under it," Kitsune said with a leering grin.

A few minutes and a few lewd comments later, the two of headed downstairs, and walked arm-in-arm into the kitchen. Motoko looked more than a little surprised that they were leaving Kitsune's room, but Kitsune managed not to say anything, though she couldn't help grinning a lot. Shinobu was there, and turned to greet them once they entered.

"Oh, wow, you two look great!" she beamed. "The table's set up outside, and dinner will be ready in a minute."

"Thanks, Shinobu," Kitsune said, then turned to her lover. "Shall we?" she asked, gesturing to the door that led to the outer part of the house.

Motoko gave her a curious look. "I have been spending too much time studying, haven't I?" she asked.

"Yes," Kitsune said firmly, then pulled her along and through the door.

Outside, the deck where Motoko normally practiced her kendo had a table set up in the middle of it. Kitsune led Motoko up to the table, and they both sat down. Kitsune grinned at Motoko across the table, then asked, "So, whatcha think?"

Motoko started to say something, then just gave a small smile. "I think I'm very lucky," she said quietly. "And I'm sorry I've been so distant while studying."

"You kinda have," Kitsune said with a shrug, "but hey, I know it's important to you. I just wanted to do something to wish you good luck, my way."

"You have a very nice way of wishing me luck," Motoko said with a quiet laugh.

"Hey, you're worth it," Kitsune said casually. "I really want you to pass. I just thought it'd be nice to, y'know, kind of go back to the first time I really said anything to you, so you wouldn't stress so much."

Motoko reached for Kitsune's hand across the table, smiling warmly. "I wouldn't have thought that you'd be such a romantic," she said. "I'd expect you to try to throw me into bed instead of anything like this."

"Well. . . ." Kitsune winked at her. "Maybe after dinner?"

"Even if I want to do the throwing?" Motoko asked with a raised eyebrow.

"We can switch off," Kitsune said with half a shrug, then grinned.

* * *

"That was . . . the best," Motoko said, then sighed, content.

"Good for you too, eh?" Kitsune leaned back and stretched, then gave a lopsided smile, looking very satisfied.

Motoko licked at the corner of her mouth, blushing slightly as Kitsune leered at her. Some things never changed, she thought. "Of course. Shinobu's cooking gets better every time, it seems."

"No kidding." Kitsune rested her hands over her stomach, then winked at Motoko. "So, do you. . . ?" She leaned forward a bit, and tugged at the front part of her yukata to flash her cleavage at her lover.

"Just - just a moment," Motoko said, surprised at the question for reasons she couldn't quite place. She shouldn't have expected anything different, she thought, so why should she feel awkward? She was probably just nervous about the exams tomorrow, Motoko thought. That had to be it. Tomorrow was the big step, the thing that could determine so much of her future. She nodded to herself, knowing that she had every right to be nervous.

But if she was going to be the best she could be, as swordswoman and as a woman, then she couldn't let the tests get to her. And besides, compared to the nights she spent with the woman she loved, what was another hour of studying?

Nights, Motoko thought, her eyes widening. She'd neglected the astronomy segment of her studies completely for the past week.

"I know that look," Kitsune said, and leaned back in her chair as she started to look upset. "You just remembered something. This isn't going to be good, is it?"

"Astronomy," Motoko said, and nodded. She now completely understood why she felt nervous. "I'm sorry, but I need to go over it before I go to bed." She looked away from Kitsune. She couldn't help feeling a little guilty, but this was important, and failing to prepare for any one part of the test - even something as minor as just a part of the sciences - could cost her valuable points.

Kitsune's face fell, and she started to look very upset. "I thought you were done! After all this, you still have to study?"

"I'm sorry," Motoko said, though she was unable to keep herself from feeling a little indignant. How many times had Kitsune said that she knew how important her studies were? "It shouldn't take me more than an hour or two."

Kitsune took a deep breath, then nodded. "You're worth it," she said, her smile slowly coming back, "but I'm holding you to that hour thing." She stood, and walked over to Motoko's chair, then draped her arms around the other woman from behind. "If you're not right back here in my arms an hour after we head up, I'm coming to get you."

"I believe you," Motoko said, feeling herself blush slightly.

* * *

"Where is she. . . ?"

Kitsune looked over at her clock, and grumbled under her breath. She rolled over, glanced back at the clock again, saw that it really did say that it'd been an hour since Motoko should have been here, then hurled her pillow at the clock and rolled out of bed.

"This is just nuts," she said to herself. She headed for the door, then stopped and pulled on a robe first. Sure, she didn't have any problem with showing up at Motoko's door naked - it'd probably help pull her mind off of studying - but she didn't feel like streaking the whole house. Once she was somewhat clothed, she reached for the door again, then paused.

"This is gonna make a difference, right?" she said to herself, feeling strangely downcast. "I mean, I'm gonna go in there, and she'll want to stop studying, right?"

Kitsune shook her head and managed a small grin. Why was she doubting herself? Sure, Motoko wasn't always the most open person, but she threw herself into something once she was sure it was worth it, no matter what. It was the same with the relationship and with her studying, really. But should that mean that one was so much more important? And was it still going to be like this once Motoko got into Tokyo U?

She leaned up against the wall, and put a hand to her forehead. She knew it wasn't like her to worry this much. But with all this studying, and all the stress that Motoko was putting herself through, and the stress it was putting on Kitsune just as bad. . . . Add that in to Motoko seeming like she didn't even know that Kitsune was upset, and. . . .

Kitsune spun around and threw the door open, already frowning. She had to do something about this.

It wasn't that late, though the sun had already gone down, and Kitsune managed not to run into anyone as she made her way downstairs to Motoko's room. She wasn't sure where everyone else was, and for once, it didn't matter. This was just between her and Motoko.

She reached her lover's door and slid it open without knocking, ready to get all upset and ask how she could have forgotten to come up after an hour of studying. There really couldn't be an excuse, Motoko shouldn't forget stuff like that, Kitsune thought, and how could she still want to study when they could be together?

Kitsune opened her mouth to yell as soon as she looked inside, then paused, and felt all her energy just kind of seep out of her. Motoko lay there, slumped over the kotatsu, breathing deep, her head pillowed on a book. She looked so peaceful, Kitsune thought as she walked over. Sure, she still wanted to ask Motoko how she could have forgotten to come up to her, but something inside of her told Kitsune to just let this one go.

Not, Kitsune thought, that she was going to listen.

Kitsune kneeled next to Motoko, loosened her robe a little, then put a hand on her lover's shoulder. "Hey," she whispered, starting to smirk, "wake up, or I'll molest you in your sleep."

It was a moment before Motoko stirred, and she did so very slowly, so much that Kitsune almost regretted waking her up. Motoko blinked at Kitsune, looking very sleepy.

"What . . . what time is it?" she asked, then yawned. "Do I have to leave?"

Kitsune slumped. Motoko wasn't even thinking about it, she thought, and probably hardly even remembered. "No," she said, "it's still late. Just making sure you're okay, y'know. You want a blanket?"

"No, I need - I need. . . ." Motoko trailed off, then blinked and sat up straight. She looked over at Kitsune, seeming suddenly regretful. "I'm . . . I'm sorry, Kitsune. I shouldn't have kept studying, I should have--"

"Hey," Kitsune said, forcing a smile, "it's all right. You need to be ready." She reached over and closed the book that lay open, and helped Motoko to her feet. "You should get to bed, though, if you're that tired."

Kitsune helped Motoko to her futon, half-dragging her, trying not to feel horribly sorry for herself. What was she doing? She'd come down here, all ready to get on her girlfriend's case for standing her up, and now all she could be was nurturing. Something wasn't right, but she wasn't doing anything about it, and that was just as bad as anything else.

All the same, she couldn't really bring herself to get mad at Motoko when she looked that damn peaceful, laying there in bed.

Kitsune pulled the covers over Motoko, then leaned down and kissed her gently on her neck. "I'll be there for you in the morning," she whispered, "so I can see you off."

"Mmh. . . . Thank you," Motoko murmured. She looked up at Kitsune, and smiled, her eyes hardly open. "I love you."

Kitsune swore she felt her heart twinge. No matter what, that was still true, and she still felt the same way. "I love you," she whispered. "Now get some sleep." She turned and stood, then walked toward the door, but paused when she heard Motoko say one last thing.

"Kitsune . . . I'm sorry about tonight."

"Yeah," Kitsune whispered, softly enough that she knew Motoko wouldn't hear her. "Yeah, I'm sorry too."

* * *

"Motoko! Wake up! You're going to be late!"

Motoko's eyes snapped open as she heard Naru's voice, and she sat up straight all at once. It was morning, she realized. She was alone. She was in her own room. The Tokyo U entrance exam was today. And she'd woken up alone. In her own room.

The last thing she really remembered was Kitsune dragging her to bed, and not in the way either of them wanted. Something, she knew, had gone horribly wrong.

Put it aside, she told herself as she scrambled to get dressed. Set it aside, and focus on today's testing. Later, when she returned, she could talk to Kitsune and explain to her what had happened, how she'd remembered that she still had some of her recent history to study after astronomy, and how that had only made her realize how tired she was. She'd only meant to nap for a moment, the better to be rested for later, but it clearly hadn't worked out that way.

"Enough, focus!" she told herself as she pulled on her shirt. For now, there could only be the test. For right now, everything else was secondary.

She couldn't help but notice, though, as she left Hinata House, that Kitsune was not up early enough to wish her well. She managed to smile at the others, and caught the cable tram that would take her to Tokyo U. Once there, she started going over her note cards, making sure that she remembered everything. She had to be at her best, she thought. She had to be the best.

Tokyo U's tower was a little imposing as she approached, but Motoko paid it no mind as she hurried toward the classroom where she'd be taking the test. There was nothing to this, she thought. She'd been doing nothing but studying for long enough, and today, it was all going to pay off. Then things could go back to normal, and she could make it up to Kitsune.

She really had been letting her lover down, Motoko thought, slowing her pace a bit. Maybe that was why Kitsune had been going to such lengths to get her attention, even when she was trying to help her with studying. That time with the maid outfit - that had been obvious, even for Kitsune, so how many other little hints had she missed? Motoko shook her head at that; it wasn't like Kitsune to attempt 'little hints.' But Kitsune must have been feeling at least a little neglected, and Motoko knew that she hadn't been doing much to change that.

"All right," she said to herself quietly, picking up her pace again, "I'll show her that I haven't forgotten about her. Once this is over with, it'll be fine."

Several hours later, it was, in fact, over, and Motoko stared off into the distance as the tram sped her home.

That wasn't as bad as she'd anticipated, she thought as she waited to hear the stop for Hinata. All the time she'd spent studying had paid off, that much she could tell, and the tips she'd picked up from Naru and Mutsumi had also come in great handy. Of course, there was still tomorrow, and some of her more difficult subjects would be covered then, but if she did as well as she'd done today, then she had nothing to worry about.

With that in mind, she thought, she was free to relax tonight, as long as she did a small review just before bed. Or perhaps the review could come a while before bed, as she still did need to smooth things out with Kitsune. Then perhaps she should do her review right away, the better to have the rest of the day and night free. . . .

Motoko let the train of thought trail off, then paused when she realized that she was blushing a great deal. While she would have loved to have Kitsune come to meet her after the test, she was a little glad that her lover wasn't there at the moment, it would only have made the blushing worse. She sighed, and realized that it truly had been far too long since they'd had any real time to themselves, no matter what they were doing. But there was today and tonight, so she could do her best to fix that, and after tomorrow, the tests would be over.

The stop for Hinata House came soon enough, and Motoko ascended the front stairs to find Su, Sarah, Mutsumi, and Shinobu waiting there for her, holding signs of congratulations and good luck. She smiled brightly at them, but couldn't help noticing that Kitsune wasn't there. She asked as soon as she was able, and the concerned look on Shinobu's face told her all she needed to know.

"I haven't seen her all day, Motoko," Shinobu said. "She didn't come down for breakfast or lunch, and she didn't answer when we knocked on her door."

"You sure it's not a lovers' quarrel?" Sarah asked, then rolled her eyes when Motoko glared at her.

"I'll have a quarrel with you if you don't stop that," Motoko snapped, then hurried inside, and headed upstairs. Kitsune's door was closed, of course, so she knocked first. "Kitsune?"

There was no answer.

"Kitsune?" Motoko asked, knocking again. She paused, then slid the door open. A second later, she stepped back, holding her hand over her nose at the smell.

Kitsune was nowhere in the room, but there were empty beer cans littered around her futon, and it seemed that a half-full bottle of some kind of liquor had been thrown against the wall, where it had shattered. Motoko made her way across the room and opened a window to air it out, then looked around again, frowning. She wasn't sure when this had happened, but she knew that the others would have told her if they'd heard glass breaking. She sighed.

"I didn't think she'd be this mad at me," Motoko said quietly to herself. "But wherever she is, I know she'll come back here eventually."

She scribbled out a note, reading 'come and find me,' and left it on Kitsune's pillow, then headed down to her own room. She didn't know where Kitsune would have gone – if she still felt like drinking, there were bars aplenty downtown, and Motoko didn't feel like going to look through them all right now. There were still things she had to do, no matter what. She knew that Kitsune would eventually find the note, and come to find her.

That evening, Kitsune did just that.

Motoko was out on the deck, eyeing the gathering clouds overhead as she practiced her strikes. She heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs, and turned to see Kitsune standing there, leaning against the rail for support. She held a bokken in one hand.

"Y'know," Kitsune said, the tone and volume of her voice suggesting that she was most if not all the way to drunk, "I didn't think I'd ever have to end up doing this."

"Kitsune," Motoko said, struggling to remain calm. This wasn't going to go well, she could tell, and hoped that she could get Kitsune to calm down before anything happened. She lowered her head. "I'm sorry about last night."

"You should be!" Kitsune yelled, glaring at Motoko, her cheeks red. "I got all that set up and all you wanted to do was study. Even fell asleep on your books instead of me. But I guess . . . I guess I shouldn't be too surprised." She'd made it all the way up onto the deck by now, and leaned back against the rail, tapping her bokken against one foot. "You've been liking your books more than me a lot recently."

"I've had to study," Motoko said, and she could feel her cheeks starting to heat. "You saw Naru and Urashima go through all this before, it's hard to get into Tokyo U."

"Yeah, maybe," Kitsune said, then hiccupped. "But it's weird, y'know? Studying all the time, it made them get closer together." She started to walk toward Motoko, slowly. "Your studying, it's taking us apart. I miss you, dammit, and you're always at your desk. It's like you don't even want to be my girl anymore."

Motoko took a deep breath, and started to walk to Kitsune, hoping she could meet her in the middle. Her lover was probably too drunk to see the metaphor, but it'd make her feel better. "I told you, I'm sorry. But it's almost over, tomorrow's the end of the test." She reached out and took Kitsune's free hand in her own. "I just have to get through that, and we'll be all right."

"All back to the way we were?" Kitsune asked after a moment, and gave a lopsided grin.

"I promise," Motoko said, then pulled Kitsune close. A second later, she felt her lover's arm wrap around her and pat her on the ass, and she knew that they were going to be okay. Kitsune was drunk, but not too upset, and they just needed to get through tomorrow. She felt the first few drops of rain land on her head and shoulders, and pulled back. "We should get in--"

"Hey, yeah," Kitsune said, and gave her a slow wink. "And you don't have to study for tomorrow, right? You're all done with your books, now that you're doing the test thingy."

"I just need to review a bit," Motoko said with a nod. "But I'll be--"

"I thought you just said you were done!" Kitsune said loudly, pulling back. "What, do I have to lose you to your . . . to your books again tonight?"

"Kitsune!" Motoko said, frowning. "You know--"

"I know that I'm tired of this," Kitsune said, then took a shaky step back and held out her bokken. The rain started to fall harder, and thunder boomed in the distance.

"I'm not going to fight you," Motoko said evenly, though she had to be loud to be heard over the rain. "I - I don't want to hurt you."

"Heh," Kitsune said, and did something that looked like a grin but seemed more like a sneer. "You're a little late for that, y'know. You were late for that a long time ago. Maybe you should have . . . should have looked around a little, lifted up from your books or something. Maybe you should have let me distract you once in a while." She shrugged, then tossed her bokken at Motoko's feet. "But, whatever. Go study."

Motoko watched Kitsune turn and walk, slowly, back toward Hinata House, then just stood there in the rain, wondering how everything could have gone so badly, so quickly.

* * *

". . . ouch."

Kitsune woke up wincing, sprawled half-off of her futon, wearing the wrinkled and damp clothes she'd been in when she'd gone to talk to Motoko. If she could even call that talking. That wasn't the way to do it, Kitsune thought. Sure, her mind was still all fuzzy and she couldn't even remember how she'd gotten out to the deck or why she'd taken a bokken, but she remembered their talk.

Just thinking about it was enough to make her pull herself all the way onto the futon and drag the covers over her head. Sure, honesty was important and all that, but did she have to be such an ass about it? Everything had come out, but not like she'd wanted to say it. Or maybe just like she'd wanted to say it, but not how she should have. She put her palms to the sides of her head, feeling utterly miserable and wondering how she was going to salvage this one.

It was a moment before she realized that the room had been pretty light before she'd pulled the covers over herself. That was part of why she had such a big headache, yeah, but that also meant something else. Motoko would have left already to take the second part of the test. "Damn," she muttered to herself. Sure, she'd gotten on Motoko's case and everything, but Kitsune knew she wasn't doing much better if she wasn't even trying to support her girlfriend. Why the hell did this all have to be so screwed up?

Kitsune slowly sat up, still holding her head, then let her hands drop into her lap. Motoko might have started this problem with all the studying, she thought, but she'd gotten drunk and made things worse. She had to do something about it.

A bath first, she had to do that, Kitsune thought as she pulled herself out of bed. Then she'd be waiting for Motoko when she got home, and they could . . . well, they'd both have to say they were sorry; Kitsune knew she'd screwed up but she wasn't the only one. But that was how it was supposed to work, right? Communication and all that. If she'd been doing that when she was sober, Kitsune thought with a chuckle, then maybe she wouldn't have gotten drunk and been stupid. She gathered a change of clothes, then hurried to her door and slid it open to find Motoko standing there about to knock.

Kitsune paused, blinked, then tried to smile and failed. "Hey," she managed.

"Hello," Motoko said slowly, lowering her gaze.

"How - how'd it go?" Kitsune asked, wondering just how long she'd been passed out and thinking that things couldn't have gone well if Motoko was already like this.

It was then that Kitsune noticed that Motoko was in her kendo garb, had her bokken over one shoulder, and looked like she'd just gotten done with her workout not too long ago. Something really wasn't right here, Kitsune thought. Maybe Motoko was just upset about everything that'd happened, and maybe she'd tried to wake her up, but couldn't. . . . The sinking feeling in Kitsune's stomach told her that wasn't quite it.

"I failed," Motoko whispered, though she might as well have yelled it for the silence that followed.

Kitsune blinked. "What?" She tossed her spare clothes aside and took a step forward, but Motoko didn't move. "C'mon, you don't know that," she said quietly, still hesitant. "They won't put up the results for, what, two weeks?"

"I know," Motoko said firmly, not raising her gaze at all. "I just . . . it was like I didn't know anything. I couldn't stop thinking about . . . what you said."

"Oh, damn." Kitsune took another step forward, and stood close to Motoko, then reached out to hold her. Motoko pulled away. "Look, we both messed up, all right?" Kitsune asked. "Maybe I should have said something earlier, maybe you should have relaxed a little. But--"

"No," Motoko said firmly. She finally raised her head, and Kitsune could see the redness around her eyes. She'd been crying for a long time, and tears were still falling. "I've failed you, and I've failed myself. I'm just not--" Motoko let out a choking sob, and turned and ran down the hall.

"Motoko!" Kitsune yelled, then took off running after her. She was a little shaky, and Motoko was much faster. They ran through the halls toward Motoko's room, nearly crashing into Shinobu and sending her laundry flying into the air. Motoko reached her room first, and slid the door shut with a slam.

Damn, Kitsune thought. This definitely wasn't good. "Motoko!" she called, and pounded on the door frame. "C'mon!"

"I'm not worthy of you!" Motoko cried from inside. "Just leave me alone!"

"What the - worthy?" Kitsune pounded again, hardly able to believe what she was hearing. "I love you, dammit! You're worthy!" There was no response. "Motoko!" Kitsune turned and leaned up against the doors. "I can stay as long as you can, y'know," she called, though she knew Motoko wouldn't say anything.

Damn, Kitsune thought. Just . . . damn.

* * *

"It's been two weeks! What am I supposed to do?"

"You could always try talking to her," Haruka said, then took a drag on her cigarette. "That usually seems to work."

Kitsune turned and glared at the other woman, but faltered a second later, and collapsed onto the bench of one of Café Hinata's tables. She wasn't sure how long she'd been pacing as she ranted out her problems to Haruka, but she sure felt like she'd walked a few miles. Or maybe that was just because she hadn't been getting any exercise, of any kind, for the past two weeks.

The way Motoko had been acting reminded Kitsune a little of how she'd been the three days after Kitsune had made her first clumsy passes at the kendo girl. That had been less awkward, though, and a lot less painful. Motoko went around the house with her head down, as though ashamed, and said as little as possible to anyone. They'd all tried to bring her out of her shell, but she just didn't respond. She'd even been doing her practice in her room instead of out on the deck, which was something she'd never done before.

All of it was driving Kitsune absolutely mad. Two weeks without Motoko would have been bad enough, but two weeks of having her around and not being able to touch her? Two weeks with no kendo practice, no exercise, no watching the races, no long nights of holding each other and talking and . . . and. . . . She felt her face growing warm, and resisted the urge to pound her head on the table.

She looked up at Haruka and sighed, hoping she didn't look as worn out as she felt. "I've tried talking," she said wearily. "She doesn't even want me around. I have to corner her in the main room, or sneak up on her in her sleep or something. She doesn't even look at me, and she just gets this look on her face, so I. . . ." She trailed off, and leaned forward with her head in her hands. "I don't know what's going on, Haruka. I can hardly even sleep when she's not there."

Haruka nodded slowly, then blew out another cloud of smoke. "I don't know what to tell you, Kitsune. Maybe she just needs her space until she can get through this."

"But it's been two weeks! She's got all of Hinata House, how could she need more space?"

"Didn't you say you'd been sneaking into her room at night?" Haruka asked, tilting her head at Kitsune.

Kitsune paused, then slapped her own forehead. "Okay, maybe that wasn't the best idea," she said, "but I was getting kinda desperate. I thought it'd help her get over what she said about not being worthy."

"Ah," Haruka said, then leaned up against the table. "You didn't mention that. You think the Tokyo U exams have anything to do with that?"

"That's how this whole mess got started," Kitsune said, and lay her head down on her arms. Two weeks . . . it was almost too much to deal with.

There was a thwap right in front of her, and Kitsune looked up to see that Haruka had tossed the morning's paper on the table.

"They're announcing the Tokyo U entrance exam results today," Haruka said casually. "No matter what, she's going to go. You should go see if she wants to--"

Kitsune was out of her chair and out of the café before Haruka could finish her sentence. Two steps later, she had to bring herself to a screeching halt so she didn't run into Motoko, who was standing right outside the door.

"Kitsune," Motoko said quietly, bowing her head.

Kitsune started to say something, but paused. Better to let Motoko start, she thought; the last thing she wanted to do was to screw this up.

"I was wondering," Motoko said, her voice not much more than a whisper, "if you would accompany me to Tokyo U--"

"Yes," Kitsune said without letting herself think any more. "Are we going now?" Better to not give her a chance to change her mind, Kitsune thought, and stepped forward, making a move to take Motoko's arm.

Motoko deftly slid out of the way, but nodded. "I was about to take the tram." She still hadn't raised her head.

"Then let's get out of here, okay?" Kitsune asked, and managed a grin, though she was pretty sure Motoko wouldn't see it. "C'mon, I want to see your name up on that board thing."

"It won't be there," Motoko whispered.

Kitsune frowned, but pretended she didn't hear. For now, she would have to be supportive, and ready to congratulate or console her lover when the time came.

The tram ride seemed to take forever, and it was past noon by the time they reached Tokyo U. Kitsune did her best to smile, even with the ever-somber Motoko at her side, as it was kind of exciting. Just like a year ago, there were tons of people here, and a lot of them were cheering and yelling as they saw their names or names of friends on the boards that listed who'd passed the test.

As they walked toward the place where the boards were, Kitsune slowly reached out and tried to take Motoko's hand. The other girl pulled away at first, but Kitsune managed to grab her hand, and smiled at her when Motoko looked over. Motoko didn't say anything, but simply frowned, looking pained. She didn't pull away, though, and Kitsune thought that had to count for something.

"Ah," Kitsune said once they were close enough to the boards that they could read the names. "Time for the moment of truth, eh?" She glanced over at Motoko, who was looking down at the ground. "C'mon. You're going to look, right?"

"There's no point," Motoko whispered.

"You don't know that!" Kitsune said, trying not to yell. "Let's look on three, okay? One, two . . . three."

Kitsune looked up, and started glancing down the lists of names, trying to find Motoko's. A moment later, when she'd gone through the 'A' listings and not seen 'Aoyama,' she slumped. So that was it, she thought. Motoko had been right, and she was probably going to be crushed. "So," she said, "that's--"

She suddenly realized that her hand was empty. Motoko was gone.


	8. Ronin and Heart, Part 3

_**Ronin and Heart, Part 3**_

"Can I get you another round, miss?"

Kitsune raised her head from the bar and looked at the short guy in the apron, then waved him away without a word. So this was where she'd ended up, she thought, and couldn't find it in herself to be surprised that she was at a bar.

She'd gone back to Hinata House right after Motoko had run off, thinking that'd be the first place her lover would go. Sure, it was something of a tradition around the dorm for people to run off right after they'd taken the Tokyo U exam, but Kitsune thought that Motoko was level-headed enough to not do anything like that. She'd been wrong. None of the others had seen Motoko come back, which meant she'd gone somewhere else entirely.

It hadn't rained while Kitsune frantically searched Hinata and the nearby towns for Motoko, but it might as well have for how she felt. Nobody had seen her, no one had heard of someone like her being around. When Kitsune pulled herself back to Hinata House that evening, slumped over nearly to the ground, she'd hardly been able to get herself to eat or talk. All she'd wanted to do was crawl into bed and wake up to find that it'd all been a really, really bad dream.

She'd gotten drunk first, of course, as that was pretty much a trained reaction by now, and the splitting headache from her hangover the next morning had made her realize the bleak truth of it all.

"I have to go after her," she'd told Naru the next morning while she packed. "You went after Keitaro when he skipped out, I can't do less for her."

Naru had looked concerned, but she said that she understood. Shinobu packed Kitsune some food for the road, and Su had given her another of her odd inventions - a Motoko-finder, she called it, saying it was based off of the same one she'd used to find Tama-chan that one time.

Kitsune sighed as the barkeep took her empty glass away. She almost wished that Tama-chan had come along with her; a little company would have made the trip more bearable, even if it was just the turtle. Then again, she thought, it was better that she did this alone. This was between she and Motoko. It had started with just the two of them, and it would end that way. She shuddered at the thought of things between them ending, then pulled herself up straight. It was time to get on with it.

She paid her bar tab and pulled on the trench coat she'd dug out for the trip - something seemed oddly appropriate about wearing it, she thought; there was just something about going out to look for your girl dressed like an old movie star. She shrugged. As amusing as that might be, she was still on a mission. Kitsune pulled up the coat's collar and stepped out of the bar into the city.

Into Kyoto.

Kyoto . . . the place that had nearly torn them apart, the place where they'd fought for each other, the place where she'd come to know that she did love Motoko. Su's bizarre device had led her here, and as far as she could tell, Motoko was back with her sister at the Gods' Cry School. She wasn't really sure why Motoko would run to Tsuruko, but it was better than if she'd just been wandering. Tsuruko might be able to help, and if Motoko was in a place where she felt comfortable. . . .

"Damn," Kitsune said to herself as she kept thinking. If Motoko was comfortable at the school, it'd be harder to get her to leave. She might have already resigned herself to just being a warrior, and not being. . . . "Not being a woman," Kitsune said quietly. "Not being with me."

She took a deep breath, then managed a smile. "Can't have that."

The sun was close to setting, and there were clouds gathering in the distance, but it wasn't far to the Gods' Cry School. Kitsune started walking.

* * *

"The way of the sword is the way of the warrior."

Motoko stood in one of the advanced stances of the Gods' Cry School, bokken in hand, and swept her way through the first seven steps of the kata. She hardly even had to think about her motions; it was nothing but practice and instinct, as natural to her as breathing.

The practice rooms here were as familiar as her own room, and she'd spent enough hours in them to know the little nuances of each one. The one she was in now had a slight draft from the door that led outside, but it kept the room pleasantly cool in the summers. Now, in the early days of spring, the room was slightly chilled, but Motoko knew she wouldn't get sick. She was working too hard to grow cold.

"The sword is the warrior's life, her life depends on the sword."

She closed her eyes as she repeated the litany, then spun her wooden blade through slashes that hit in all directions, working her way through the kata. Had anyone been threatening her, she would have dispatched them easily by now, no matter where they stood.

"When everything else fails, there must be nothing but the sword, for that is all a warrior can truly rely on."

The end of the kata was a series of quick forward strikes, followed by sweeps to both sides and a final spin, made to eliminate any opponents who remained. The ways of battling more than one opponent had often been Motoko's favorites, though she hadn't had much reason to practice them in her former life. It was a change that had to be made, she thought.

"The sword does not fail the warrior, the warrior fails . . . the sword. . . ."

She let out her breath all at once and fell into a kneeling position, then carefully placed her bokken on the floor before her.

"And if the warrior fails the sword," she said quietly, trying to keep her voice from breaking, "then there is nothing left."

Motoko bowed her head and undid the band that held her hair back, letting it sweep forward around her face, hiding the tears as they started to fall. That was it, she thought. She had failed as a woman, had failed both herself and the one she loved, so there was nothing left for her but the sword. There could be nothing else; she was not worthy of anything else. She would remain here at the school, she would teach others the way of the sword. Perhaps, she thought, she would watch them learn that there was more to life, and perhaps she would see them succeed at whatever their other paths were.

But those paths were not hers, they never could be again. All that was left for her was to be the warrior.

She sighed heavily, then stood and bound her hair again. "There's no time for this," she said to herself. "There's much to do, and Tsuruko will want my help to keep the school running as it should. It has been . . . a while, but I'm sure I can still handle it. In time, things will be just as they used to be."

"Very true, Motoko-chan."

Motoko whipped her head around, and saw her sister standing in the dojo doorway. It was rare that Tsuruko didn't look at least a little amused, but there was no sign of a smile on her face today. "Now, simply keep telling yourself that, and perhaps in time, you'll believe it."

Motoko started to say something, then closed her mouth and let her face grow hard. She stood straight, and turned to face her sister. "Do you doubt my dedication to the school, oneesan?"

She watched Tsuruko as she waited for the other woman to speak, not moving a muscle, never taking her eyes away from her sister's face. Tsuruko hadn't exactly made a challenge, but Motoko knew she had to be prepared for such things if she was going to take over the school someday. As she watched, she saw Tsuruko smile sadly, and couldn't help frowning. That was not what she'd expected.

"I haven't a worry about your dedication, Motoko-chan," Tsuruko said. "What I worry about is your heart."

Motoko paused, then looked away. She'd known that this conversation was coming, though she'd hoped it would have been more than two days until Tsuruko broached the subject. "I told you what happened," she said curtly. "I'd think that would be enough."

"Enough for you, perhaps," Tsuruko said, and shrugged casually. "Or enough for you to think that you're doing what you must." She started to walk toward Motoko. "But I think you're giving up too much, Motoko-chan, and you're giving it up too easily." She stood in front of her sister now, and put a hand on her shoulder. "This is the place where you fought to prove your love," Tsuruko said quietly, "and I doubt you've forgotten that. Do you really think you can live here, and see these places every day, and not think about what happened here?"

"I can handle it," Motoko said, holding herself straight. "I've dealt with worse, and in time . . . in time, I'll. . . ."

Motoko tried to say it, but the words wouldn't come out. No matter how many katas she went through, no matter how many students she ended up teaching, no matter how many times she swore herself to the sword, she knew. . . .

"I'll have to," she whispered, fighting back tears. "I'll have to forget her, because I failed her, and I failed myself."

To Motoko's surprise, Tsuruko moved forward and hugged her, holding her close in a sisterly embrace. "I'm sorry, Motoko-chan," she said, and Motoko could hear a touch of the humor she was used to in her sister's voice, "but I don't think you'll be able to do that."

"Why?" Motoko asked, puzzled.

"Because she's waiting for you in the front room."

Motoko froze.

* * *

"She doesn't want to see you."

Kitsune blinked at Tsuruko, then asked, "She what?"

The two of them stood in the front room of the God's Cry School, where Kitsune had ben waiting while Tsuruko brought news of her arrival to Motoko. Kitsune had spent most of the time since then pacing, unable to keep herself from being nervous. Sure, it had only been two days, but now that she was this close, she wanted to see Motoko, now! She sighed, frustrated, and started pacing again.

"I'm sorry, Konno-san," Tsuruko said, "but I suppose being stubborn runs in the family." She was wearing a small smile, though Kitsune didn't see what could be funny about this.

"Well, that doesn't help," she said, trying to keep from sounding upset. "She's been here for two days?"

"Since the day you both went to see the exam results," Tsuruko said with a nod. "She came to me, crying, and at first all I could get out of her was that she'd failed. What, I wasn't sure, but she eventually told me." She walked over to Kitsune, looking not at all worried. "Thank you, Konno-san, for standing by her during these difficult times."

Kitsune gave Tsuruko a strange look. Obviously, Motoko hadn't told her the whole story, otherwise Tsuruko might not be so happy to see her. Kitsune knew that her drunken rantings were probably why Motoko had failed the Tokyo U exam. Maybe, she thought, maybe that was another part of why she'd come here - she wanted to apologize to Motoko. It might not do much good, but it'd be a start, and besides, wasn't the whole forgiveness thing part of love?

"Konno-san?"

Kitsune blinked again, then managed to smile at Tsuruko. "Sorry, just zoned out there for a second. Hey, where is she?"

"In one of the practice rooms," Tsuruko said calmly. "But she told me she doesn't want to see you."

"Oh, that's never stopped me before," Kitsune said with a smirk. "So, where's the room?"

Tsuruko nodded over her shoulder, back the way she had come. "Down that hallway, then take a left. It'll be the third door on your right."

"Gotcha," Kitsune said, heading for the door. "Thanks, Tsuruko."

"You're very welcome," Tsuruko said, still smiling like she knew something Kitsune didn't. "Oh, and Konno-san?"

Kitsune paused just before she reached the door. "Yeah?"

"Motoko-chan's taken up in her old room while she's been here, should you need a place to stay."

Kitsune grinned, then slid the door open. "Thanks."

Motoko turned at the sound of the practice room's door sliding open, falling into a defensive stance as she did so. If Tsuruko was going to try something-

Her eyes opened wide, and her breath caught in her throat as she saw who was standing there. She felt her face go pale. That wasn't Tsuruko.

"Hey," Kitsune said casually, walking in and closing the door behind her. She leaned against the door frame, then said, "Missed you."

"Kitsune," Motoko said quietly, bowing her head. How could she have come, Motoko thought. She wasn't worthy of her, she was hardly even a woman anymore, only a warrior. Motoko turned away, and lowered her bokken. "This is a surprise," she said quietly.

"Really?" Kitsune's footsteps were loud on the tatami mats; Motoko could hear the other woman walking closer. She tensed herself, trying to keep still. "Did you really think," Kitsune asked, "I'd just let you go?"

"You should have," Motoko whispered, then turned away from her. "How can you be here after what happened?"

Kitsune laughed at that, and Motoko straightened in surprise. "Oh, come on," Kitsune said. Motoko could hear that she was right behind her, but she didn't move. "You think that failing the exam once is going to change everything?" She paused, and Motoko felt her hand on her shoulder. "You think that means I'm not going to love you anymore?"

"I don't deserve your love," Motoko said, fighting to keep her voice from shaking. The door outside was right in front of her, she told herself. She could run, and eventually reach a place where Kitsune couldn't find her. "After everything that happened," she said quietly, "after my studies helped pull us apart, I'm just not worthy of being with you."

"Motoko . . . look," Kitsune said, squeezing Motoko's shoulder. "You screwed up, I screwed up, it's not just your fault. I'm . . . I'm sorry about going off on you when you had the exam the next day. I know that must have messed it up for you."

Motoko felt Kitsune starting to move closer. She bolted, throwing open the door and dashing into the forest outside.

Tears streamed down Motoko's face as she ran through the forest, which was growing dark with the coming night. She leaped and dodged around trees, and pine needles slapped against her face and arms, but she didn't care. All that mattered was getting away. How could Kitsune come back to her saying that it was her own fault? How could she take the blame? How, Motoko thought, could she say she still loved her after she'd done everything she could to keep things going and all Motoko had done was tear them apart?

"Motoko!"

She nearly stumbled at hearing her name called. Kitsune was following her, and she knew that her white top would be easy to spot in the twilight. Motoko kept running. She could outdistance Kitsune, she was sure of it. It was all she could do, it was what she had to do.

It was suddenly futile when she reached the tree line and found herself at the edge of a cliff.

She skidded to a halt, breathing hard, more from worry than exertion. She should have known better than to come here, she'd spent enough time in this forest as a child . . . but she'd been running too fast, and crying too much, to notice where she was going. This couldn't be happening, she thought. Something like this should happen to Naru or . . . or almost anyone else. She was a warrior, wasn't she?

And if that was the case, she couldn't help but think, then shouldn't she turn and fight instead of running?

She glanced toward the sky. Clouds were covering what little of the sky was still lit, and she could feel it growing colder - it would rain soon. Maybe, she thought, Kitsune wouldn't find her. She doubted it, and as she heard footsteps growing nearer for the second time that day, she knew that she had to face her. Motoko took a deep breath as Kitsune reached the edge of the forest.

"Y'know," Kitsune said, breathing heavily, "I've really missed our workouts, but this wasn't how I was thinking about getting back to them." She winked, and Motoko felt a lump grow in her throat. She'd missed that. . . .

Motoko took a deep breath, and closed her eyes for a moment. She could do this, she told herself. Opening her eyes again, she looked at Kitsune, and said, "I'm sorry, but I can't . . . be with you. After what I've done, I don't deserve you."

"How can you say that?" Kitsune said, looking confused and holding her hands out in front of herself. "Okay, yeah, you said 'I don't deserve this' before, but you meant it differently!"

"I put myself ahead of us," Motoko said. She was trying to sound strong, but her voice started to quiver, and she couldn't do anything to stop it. "I - I was selfish, and I suffered for it. We both suffered--"

"We still are!" Kitsune yelled. Rain started to fall, pattering against the pine needle-covered ground. "You can't tell me you're happy like this! I miss you, I've missed you ever since you came back from the exams and started acting like you'd taken a vow of silence!"

Motoko held her ground as Kitsune started walking toward her. There was nowhere to run, she thought, but she didn't want to do that. She watched Kitsune, with the rain in her hair and a determined look on her face, and prepared herself. It would only take one strike.

She looked Kitsune in the eye, then felt her knees go weak. One strike, she thought, trying to stay steady. "I hurt both of us," she whispered, tasting rain on her lips, "I should be alone."

"I did the same thing," Kitsune said quietly. She stopped right in front of Motoko, then tossed her wet bangs out of her face. "But I love you, dammit. I forgive you, so . . . can you forgive me?"

She forgave her. After everything she'd done, Motoko thought, Kitsune still forgave her. "Kitsune. . . ." Motoko held herself upright for one second more, then collapsed into Kitsune's arms, crying and telling her she loved her.

* * *

"It's all right."

Kitsune lay on Motoko's futon, holding the kendo girl in her arms, stroking her long black hair as Motoko rested her head on her chest. There was a time, she thought, when she'd have come up with all kinds of lewd comments about that, and she still might. But this was different. Maybe it meant she was growing up, maybe it meant they were growing closer, but for now, all she wanted to do was hold her lover close.

"I'm sorry, Kitsune," Motoko said for what Kitsune was sure was about the twentieth time. "All I could think of was what I'd done and how it was tearing us apart, and--"

Kitsune gently put a finger over Motoko's lips, quieting her. "Hey," she said, "I told you, it's all right. I forgave you a long time ago, y'know?"

Motoko raised her head and looked up at Kitsune. She was still crying, Kitsune thought, and she hoped those were the good kind of tears by now. After all they'd been through, she'd hate to think that her lover could still be sad. It might take some time before they were all right again, but that was the way love was, and she was sure that they'd be okay.

The way love was. . . . Kitsune looked down at Motoko, and smiled wistfully. Yeah, it was love. This kind of thing was what love was all about.

"I have to say," Motoko whispered, "that I almost don't understand. How could you come for me after everything that happened?"

"How could I not?" Kitsune asked, laughing a little. "You can't get rid of me that easily. I love you, you're stuck with me."

Motoko blinked, then laughed like she couldn't help it. "I suppose you're right," she said quietly, then pulled Kitsune closer, leaning into her again. "I wouldn't want it any other way, though."

Kitsune sighed happily at that, and buried her face in Motoko's hair. This, she thought, was just what she'd missed. Everything that came with loving Motoko, everything that she'd learned and all the fun they'd had . . . it was hard to think about life any other way. Two weeks without her had been hell, she couldn't imagine going any longer.

They lay there holding each other for a long time before saying anything else. Maybe that was all right, Kitsune thought; sometimes, they really didn't need to say anything. There was still one question she had to ask, though.

"Hey," she said, looking down as Motoko raised her eyes, "you're going to try for Tokyo U again next year, right?" When Motoko didn't answer, Kitsune winked at her. "I'd hate to think you wouldn't give it another shot after I screwed up your test this year."

"I don't think that was entirely the case," Motoko said, looking away for a moment. "I . . . . On the second day of the test, I knew that I wasn't ready as soon as I started looking through the exam book. Just the thought that my studying had been for nothing, and that it had driven us apart. . . ." She paused, and cleared her throat. "That was enough. There was nothing I could do, once I'd realized that."

Kitsune reached over and cupped the side of Motoko's face in her hand, then gave her cheek a little pinch. "You're not very cute when you're feeling sorry for yourself, y'know?" She grinned as Motoko glowered at her. "Besides, you throw yourself at something until you beat it all the time. I kinda thought this would be the same thing."

Motoko slowly started to smile. "Perhaps you're right," she said. "Will you still love me if I end up a third-year ronin like Urashima?"

"I'll still love you if you don't get into Tokyo U until you're an old grey-haired woman," Kitsune said with a wink.

"That's. . . ." Motoko paused for a moment. "That's oddly comforting, but it's not something I'd like to see happen."

"Oh, don't worry about that," Kitsune said. She slid her hand down Motoko's hair again, then rested her hands around her waist. "You'll still be my sexy little kendo girl, even when this-" She patted Motoko's ass, still grinning. "-starts to sag."

"Kitsune," Motoko said, but Kitsune could tell she wasn't as mad as she was pretending to be. "That's not going to happen."

Kitsune chuckled. "C'mon, it happens to everyone, you've seen Grandma Hinata--"

"That's not what I mean and you know it," Motoko said, giving Kitsune a pointed look. She pulled back, then sat up, and looked off into what Kitsune guessed was supposed to be the distance, though it was more like the far wall. "I will try again," she said, softly but with pride in her voice, "and I'll get into Tokyo U." She looked back down at Kitsune, smiling warmly. "I'll make you proud of me."

Kitsune had to grin at that. Some things never changed, she thought, and with Motoko, she really didn't want them to. "I already am, y'know? It took Naru a lot longer than that to say she was going to try again, and hey, she got in. You'll kick ass, I know it." She reached over and tugged on the hem of Motoko's top, trying to pull it open. Motoko frowned at her, but Kitsune could see that she was blushing. "Now get back down here, it's been two weeks and I've missed you."

The next morning, they woke up wrapped around each other, and Kitsune didn't move even after she was sure that Motoko was awake. Sure, there were things to do, and they'd have to get back to Hinata House eventually. But for now, she felt satisfied, warm and happy, and content to just lay there with the woman she loved. For now, and for as long as she could see, this was all she needed.


	9. Flashback Tales: The First Date

Author's note: apparently, this is the fic that will not leave me alone! the following is, as it says, a flashback tale, taking place about a week after the first part of "strangelove." I realize that this leads to some oddness in the chronology, but "strangelove" is inherently odd, so that shouldn't be too much of a problem. more of these may follow if I'm inspired!

* * *

Flashback Tales: The Rather Bizarre First Date

* * *

Motoko stood in front of Kitsune's door, standing with her hand raised as though she was going to knock. She'd been standing like that for at least two minutes, she guessed. She'd moved her hand toward the door at least four times, had upsetting thoughts twice, chided herself twice more, and had generally been wondering if she was going to make a mess out of all of this.

Perhaps, she thought, there were downfalls to being traditional about such things. Perhaps this wouldn't even be necessary. Perhaps she was simply making this far too difficult on herself.

Or, Motoko thought as the door slid open and Kitsune quirked an eyebrow at her, perhaps she'd just end up standing here until the problem solved itself.

Kitsune looked at Motoko, looked down at her hand, still frozen in the 'I'm going to knock' position. She then smirked, reached up and took Motoko's hand, opened her fist, and placed Motoko's open hand directly in line with her breasts.

Motoko quickly pulled her hand away and hid both of them behind her back, fighting off a blush. She started to say something, then cleared her throat and started again. "I'm not accustomed to this sort of thing," she began.

"It works better if you knock," Kitsune said, grinning. "But if you want to charge into my room and throw me down, I'm okay with that."

"Kitsune," Motoko said tersely. "I thought we were clear on . . . on that."

"Yeah, but I can dream, y'know?"

Motoko sighed. It had only been a week since they'd come to know their feelings for each other, and while she couldn't say that she wished things were otherwise, she did wonder if there were any limits to Kitsune's sexual appetite. The other woman made lewd comments almost constantly, and while Motoko had to admit that she found it somewhat flattering, being the target of such a barrage was taking some getting used to.

As for their own activities, or rather the lack thereof, Motoko had been insistent that they wait until they were ready. She had been a little surprised that Kitsune had agreed to that right away, but they knew that moving too fast might spoil things. At least, Kitsune seemed to know it; Motoko herself knew that she was going almost completely on instinct.

Motoko took a deep breath, and tried not to look too nervous at Kitsune's look of amused anticipation. She had to say what she had come here to say. "Considering the . . . unusual circumstances in which our relationship began, I've come to realize that neither of us formally declared our intents."

Kitsune cocked her head at Motoko. "What do you mean?" she asked, then winked. "It seemed pretty obvious to me."

"Forgive me," Motoko said, bowing slightly, "but it's a matter of tradition for me." She stood tall again, and put a hand to her mouth, clearing her throat. "I wish to know if you would like to go on a date."

Motoko watched Kitsune's face, looking for a sign. She was suddenly glad that Kitsune was very, very easy to read – her eyes were open wide, but she was grinning again.

"That's what you were being all nervous about?" Kitsune asked, then chuckled. "What, did you think I wouldn't say yes? I'm the one who got drunk and went after you."

Motoko frowned. "I didn't think you were completely drunk."

"Close enough," Kitsune said, "it was the only way I could do it." She laughed as Motoko's face fell, and said, "Oh, c'mon, I knew what I was doing." Her features softened just a bit, and she said quietly, "I did. Really."

Motoko nodded, oddly aware of how much she was still blushing. There were times when she still wondered if she'd wake up and find that she'd dreamt all of this; it was an odd kind of fear and something she couldn't make herself ignore, no matter how irrational she knew it was. "So," she said quietly, "can I have an answer?"

"Didn't I just tell you I'd say yes?" Kitsune asked, then winked at her again when Motoko blinked. "C'mon, that's the best idea I've heard since you said we should sleep together. Where do you want to go?"

"I – I haven't planned anything yet," Motoko said, feeling oddly nervous. "I hadn't really thought past whether or not you'd say yes." She paused, and took a deep breath. "Are you busy this Saturday?"

Kitsune drew back a bit, and looked at Motoko as though suddenly realizing something. "Wow, you are serious about this," she said. "Okay, yeah. This Saturday, what, around noon?"

"Noon is fine," Motoko said. "I'll meet you at the fountain in front of the train station downtown." She swallowed hard, finding it almost hard to believe that she'd actually said it.

"Okay," Kitsune said, then started to grin again. "See you there." She slid her door closed, and Motoko heard her giggling from the other side.

Motoko walked down the hall, then leaned up against the wall as soon as she'd turned the corner. She was breathing hard, and felt strangely flush. "I did it," she said to herself, and started to smile. "I actually did it."

She hadn't truly thought that Kitsune would say no. But making their relationship official was important to her, and she felt that asking Kitsune on a date was the right thing to do. There was something about all of this that still felt right. She wanted to do right by Kitsune, and show her that she meant for this to be something important to them both. A first date, a real date, should help to make that clear.

It was then that she realized she had almost no idea what to do on an actual date.

* * *

Kitsune slid into the hot springs, found a place to sit, and slipped out of her towel. She glanced back and forth, then started giggling madly again, unable to stop herself. This was just too much.

Motoko wanted to go on a date. A real date. She'd been so cute standing there, looking like some nervous kid trying to say 'will you go out with me?' Sure, she'd tried to be all strong and stuff like she usually was, but Kitsune had known something was up. She hadn't known what, though, and Kitsune had been surprised when Motoko finally came out with it.

Kitsune leaned back on the rocks, folding her hands behind her head. Sure, she thought, she really should have seen something like this coming. Motoko had always been all traditional and stuff, and while she wasn't really all that masculine – Kitsune had seen her less and less like that over the past week, for obvious reasons – it wasn't really a surprise that she'd fall into what was usually the man's thing to do. Not, Kitsune thought, that she would have asked Motoko out on a real date if the other girl hadn't taken the first step. She'd rather just hang around than get all dressed up and go somewhere.

Then again, going out somewhere could be fun. It'd give her a chance to wear some of the stuff she usually kept in the back of her closet. And, Kitsune thought, starting to giggle again, who knew where it could lead. Spending all day together, away from the rest of Hinata House. . . . That had potential. Serious potential.

Kitsune was just starting to wish she'd brought a beer or two to the bath so she could celebrate when she heard someone coming out of the washroom. For a second, she felt herself starting to blush, then realized that it probably wouldn't be Motoko. Sure, there was a chance, but why would her kendo girl come to bathe with her when she'd just asked her out? Kitsune peered through the clouds of steam, and nodded to herself when she saw who it was.

"Hey, Naru," Kitsune said casually. This could be weird, she thought.

Naru stopped, like she hadn't known that someone else was in the bath, then said, "Oh, hi, Kitsune," sounding kind of awkward. She found a place to sit down, then leaned back, but kept her towel around herself.

Yeah, Kitsune thought, definitely weird. "You taking a study break?" she asked.

"Sort of," Naru said. "We just had that practice test last week, but I still have to keep on – on top of things." She started to look away.

Kitsune started to say something about who was on top of what when it came to Naru studying with Keitaro, but managed to hold herself back. Still, it looked like Naru was uncomfortable after walking in on her and Motoko last week. It'd be better to get through with it, Kitsune thought.

"Sounds like it," she said. "Hey, you know any good places around here to go on a date?"

"A date?" Naru asked, looking over at Kitsune, seeming confused.

"Yeah, y'know, two people going out, having a good time, that kind of thing?" Kitsune chuckled, then winked at Naru. "Sure, I know you didn't really date in high school, but who else am I going to ask?"

Kitsune kind of expected Naru to blow up at her. She knew it would have happened if Keitaro had said something like that. Instead, Naru kind of withdrew, and started to frown.

"I don't know why you'd ask me," Naru said. "Who do you have a date with, anyway?"

"Motoko asked me out this morning," Kitsune said, and started to grin. She did her best to keep from giggling. It almost worked. "She was so cute, you should have seen her," she said. "It was kind of like some of those guys who tried asking you out, but with a cuter ass."

For probably only the second time since she'd known her, Kitsune watched as Naru went completely speechless. Sure, the last time had been when she'd walked in on her and Motoko. Maybe it could be habit-forming. After a moment of watching Naru try to form a word, Kitsune laughed.

"Oh, c'mon," she said. "You never looked at Motoko's ass?"

"Kitsune!" Naru finally managed, glaring at Kitsune, looking like she was about to stand up and storm off. "I never – what are you – I can't believe you!"

Kitsune giggled. "What, you don't think so?"

"I never even thought about it!" Naru said, then took a deep breath and leaned back against the rock again. "It was weird enough seeing you and her together like that, you don't need to tell me all the details." She folded her arms over her chest, and looked down.

Ah, Kitsune thought, so that was it. She looked away, and took a deep breath, really wishing that she'd thought to bring a beer or two. Maybe three. "Yeah, I bet that was a surprise," she said quietly.

"It was probably the last thing I thought I'd see," Naru said, sounding calmer. "You were after almost every guy at our school. What. . . ." Out of the corner of her eye, Kitsune saw Naru looking over at her. "What happened?"

Kitsune shrugged. "I don't know," she said, wishing it was that simple. "I've always kinda looked at girls, I never really thought about it. It was worse when I came here, but I just ignored it. You know what high school was like, you were just about the only girl who wasn't dating someone, and that was 'cause of all your studying." She glanced over at Naru, expecting a dirty glare or something, but saw that the other girl was giving her a curious, almost apologetic look. "Maybe I just kept chasing guys 'cause I was looking for something they didn't have. Like I said, I really don't know."

"So what is it about Motoko?" Naru asked.

"She's just. . . ." Kitsune gestured vaguely. This, she thought, would be much easier if she wasn't so sober. "She's kinda masculine but kinda not, like she's got all the best of both worlds. I like that she's strong, but she's soft too, in all the right ways – c'mon, don't give me that look, you know what I mean!" She giggled again, then sighed. "She's Motoko," Kitsune said with a quiet sigh. "It just feels good being with her."

Naru tilted her head as she looked at Kitsune. "That sounds really strange coming from you. I didn't think you'd ever get serious about anyone, the way you were during high school. And . . . I really didn't think it'd be another girl."

"Me neither," Kitsune said with a nod. "Funny how that works out, huh?" She shrugged, then grinned. "Does this mean you don't know where we should go on a date?"

* * *

Motoko stood at the fountain outside the train station, as she had been for the past half-hour. She held her hands folded behind her, then in front of her, then at her sides, then started to pace around the fountain, doing her best not to mutter under her breath. As little as she knew about dating, she knew that taking her sword along wasn't part of it, no matter how much she wanted to. She would have felt less fidgety with the familiar weapon at her side.

She took a deep breath, and tried to walk more slowly. There had been enough time, she thought, to plan for a few things that they could do. She wasn't quite sure how long a date was supposed to last. She'd heard that they were supposed to start earlier, though considering Kitsune's drinking and sleeping habits, noon was as early as Motoko could expect her to be ready. She just hoped that she'd prepared well enough.

With that in mind, Motoko looked down to her outfit. She'd never owned much in terms of fancy clothes, and so had gone with a simple, sensible dark blue shirt and a pair of black pants. She'd been tempted, briefly, to wear the short-sleeved shirt and miniskirt that Kitsune had dressed her up in during that ill-fated day several months ago, but had decided that was out of the question. While she could hardly show up to a date in her kendo practice clothing or her school uniform, there were limits.

Motoko glanced toward the clock at the train station again, and sighed. In two minutes, it would be noon. Knowing Kitsune, she would be at least five minutes late. Motoko folded her hands behind herself again, wondering if it was possible to actually injure herself from first-date jitters.

A second later, someone cupped their hands over Motoko's eyes.

Acting on pure instinct, Motoko snapped her arms up to force away her unknown assailant's hands, and spun around as soon as she was free, bringing her leg up for a kick. When she saw that it was Kitsune, she nearly spun herself all the way around again before managing to stop herself.

"So, should I ask if you're glad to see me?" Kitsune asked, smirking. She winked at Motoko.

"Don't do that," Motoko said, trying to catch her breath and wondering if this was a horrible idea after all. Surely if she'd started the date by nearly attacking Kitsune nothing good could come of it.

She paused, and looked at what Kitsune had chosen to wear. Her top was purple and low-cut, and had an odd assortment of straps over her shoulders. The jeans she wore were rather tight, and flared out around her ankles. Motoko felt her face growing warm, and lowered her gaze. "You look very nice, Kitsune," she managed.

"Thanks. Wow, you're tense," Kitsune said. She tilted her head, then grinned. "C'mon, let's go get a drink, it'll loosen you up."

"Kitsune," Motoko said tersely, just short of glaring at the other woman. "First, I'm underage. Second, I'm not starting this off with you getting drunk." She sighed, and tried to smile. "I'm sorry, but I'm nervous, and you're not making this easy on me."

"Easy? You're the one who's not letting me drink." Kitsune pouted for just a second, then smiled and leaned close to Motoko. "I'm just kidding," she said, sliding her arm over Motoko's shoulders. "C'mon, smile, or I'm going to spend the whole day with my hand on your ass."

Motoko looked Kitsune in the eyes, suddenly wary. She hadn't expected such a public display of affection. Kitsune leaned even closer, and Motoko started to draw away. "Kitsune. . . ."

Kitsune darted in close and kissed Motoko on the cheek, then pulled back. Motoko felt herself flush very red very quickly, and didn't notice that Kitsune had taken her hand until she squeezed it.

"You worry too much," Kitsune said with another wink. "So, what d'you have planned for us?"

"I – I had hoped you'd like going to a movie," Motoko managed after taking a deep breath. "After that, I supposed we could go for lunch somewhere nearby."

"Sounds like a good start," Kitsune said, nodding. "And hey, we've got the whole day, and the whole night if we want to."

Motoko felt her blush grow hotter, and Kitsune's ever-present grin wasn't helping things. She sighed. That was just how Kitsune was, she told herself, and she should be used to it by now. Then again, if Kitsune was any other way, things likely wouldn't have happened between them. Motoko managed a small smile. That was the heart of it, she thought. Any other way, and they would be no more than friends.

"Finally," Kitsune said quietly. Motoko glanced at her to see that she was smiling – not smirking, but genuinely smiling. "I was starting to wonder if you really wanted to do this."

"I do," Motoko said. She squeezed Kitsune's hand, then let go and offered her arm instead. " Shall we go?"

A few minutes later, when they arrived at the movie theater, Motoko looked up at the marquee and felt her stomach start to sink. Something was already going wrong, she thought, and of course it had to be with the first thing she had planned.

"Y'know," Kitsune said, looking up at the theater along with her, "I never would have thought you'd be the steamy romance type."

"That's not what was listed in the paper," Motoko said quietly. When she'd checked yesterday, the movie listings had shown that there was a simple comedy playing, and she'd figured that would be fine – not entirely her kind of film, but something safe for a date. But, judging by the fact that the marquee now had a sign that showed two people in an intimate embrace, the movie showing had changed. She swallowed hard.

"If you don't want to--" Motoko began.

"Oh no, we can see this," Kitsune said quickly. "C'mon!"

It wasn't often that Motoko found herself helpless, but Kitsune yanking her toward the theater to see a steamy movie on their first date was just about all she could deal with. She didn't fully regain her senses until they were seated.

Motoko blinked twice, then glanced over at Kitsune just in time to see the other woman yawn, stretch, and casually put her arm around Motoko's shoulders.

"I can't believe you just did that," Motoko said flatly.

"Hey, it's not like I tried to grope you," Kitsune said, then chuckled.

"I'd expect that you'd at least wait until the lights went down for that," Motoko said without thinking.

The lights started to go dim, and the curtain over the screen began to rise.

"Ooh, good idea," Kitsune said quietly.

"Kitsune!"

* * *

"Hey, Motoko, you got some whipped cream on your face--"

Motoko glowered at Kitsune, and lowered her spoon. "I'm not falling for that again, Kitsune."

"No, I mean it this time. . . ."

The two of them were sharing a table outside of an ice cream shop that was near the movie theater. After putting her through a romantic movie, Kitsune had said she'd make up for it with something sweet. To Motoko's surprise, the other woman had been speaking literally. While the parfait was quite good, and not the kind of thing that she'd normally eat, Motoko hadn't thought that Kitsune would use the food as a chance to make her blush even more.

She dabbed at her face with her napkin, and gave Kitsune a flat look. "There. Is that better?"

Kitsune gestured vaguely with her spoon. "Would have been better if you'd . . . oh, c'mon. You know I'm just teasing."

"You tease too much, Kitsune," Motoko said wearily. She looked back down to her dessert, then looked back up a moment later when Kitsune hadn't said anything. The look on Kitsune's face wasn't what Motoko had expected.

"Yeah, maybe you're right," Kitsune said. "But I wouldn't do it if I didn't think you liked it, y'know?" She started to smile, and winked at Motoko.

"I. . . ." Motoko trailed off, then nodded. "I do like it, I suppose. I'm just not used to it."

"Oh, right," Kitsune said, starting to nod as well. "You didn't really ever have a boyfriend, huh?" When Motoko shook her head, Kitsune chuckled. "No wonder you were so nervous when you asked me out. You've never been on a date before, have you?"

Motoko started to protest, then sighed. "No, and I'm surprised you even had to ask," she said. "You should know me better than that."

"Well, it's only been a week," Kitsune cracked. "But yeah." She paused, and grinned wider than usual. "Wow. I don't think I've been anyone's first date since junior high."

"You can stop now," Motoko said tersely. "Just because this is old news to you doesn't mean it's not--" She cut herself off, realizing that she was starting to stand up from her chair. Forcing herself to be calm, she sat back down.

"Hey," Kitsune said, reaching across the table and putting her hand over Motoko's. "I'm sorry, okay?" She paused, then gave Motoko a small smile. "Look, you know I'm not really used to this either, right? I never really dated anyone seriously, I was always looking for someone who was hot or loaded. I never just liked someone 'cause of just, y'know, who they were."

"I see," Motoko said quietly. She turned her hand over so that she could hold Kitsune's. "Thank you, for that. I just get worried, I hope you can understand. With all my training, some things simply didn't happen to me when I was growing up, and this . . . all of this wasn't part of life for me."

"That's a damn shame," Kitsune said, "but I gotta say, I'm glad that I'm your first. Makes me feel kinda special."

Motoko lowered her gaze and blushed. That was just it, she thought. In her own slightly warped way, Kitsune felt for her just as she felt for Kitsune. Perhaps she didn't need to worry, or at least, not as much. Perhaps things would simply be all right.

* * *

They returned to Hinata House just as the sun was setting, holding hands as they walked up the long staircase that led up to the old building. Motoko tried to stop at the front door, but Kitsune just grinned at her, and led her upstairs to her room's door. There, she paused, and turned to Motoko.

"Sure, it's kinda weird to end a date outside when we live in the same house," she said with a wink, "but this is close enough."

"I see," Motoko said. She cleared her throat. "I hope you had a good time today, and I hope we can do this again."

Kitsune giggled, then smiled at Motoko when she frowned. "I love it when you get all traditional like that. It's so cute. But yeah, we should do this again. You don't have school tomorrow, right?"

Motoko paused. "I thought you set aside your Sundays for drinking and gambling?" she said, managing to keep a straight face.

"Hey, sounds like a date to me," Kitsune said with a smirk. She leaned in close to Motoko, then stopped when their faces were about an inch apart.

". . . Kitsune?" Motoko felt her face growing red again.

"Sorry," Kitsune said, still smirking. "But I still don't kiss on the first date." She leaned back, and slid open her room's door. "Goodnight!"

Motoko stood there as Kitsune walked stepped into her room and slid the door shut, red-faced for more reasons than she really wanted to consider. They had been so close, she thought, and after being together all day . . . to end it with such a tease. . . . Motoko shook her head, trying to calm herself. She supposed she should have expected such a thing. Besides, Kitsune did say that she liked being traditional sometimes, and that might have been part of it. She nodded to herself. It was good to hold to some of the older values, and she still felt that they shouldn't move too quickly.

Motoko nodded to herself, smiling, and turned to walk away. It was still somewhat light out, and she should be able to get in some practice–

From behind her, Motoko heard the door slide open, and she whipped around just as Kitsune grabbed her and pulled her close. "Ten seconds," Kitsune said. "Date's over!"

Kitsune ran her hands up Motoko's back and buried her fingers in her hair, pulling her close and down. Motoko struggled for just a second, mostly from surprise, then let herself be pulled in. A warm rush swept through her as their lips met, and she wrapped her arms around Kitsune, holding her as close as she possibly could. After a moment, Kitsune started to pull back, but Motoko didn't let her.

When they finally managed to separate, Kitsune was red-faced and breathing hard, and Motoko was much the same. She held Kitsune to her, reaching up to stroke her light brown hair.

"So," Kitsune murmured after a moment, "same time tomorrow?"

Motoko laughed quietly. "I'll meet you right here at noon."


	10. Mirth and Madness in Molmol

Author's Note: It's amazing how long it can take to get another idea.

Yes, I know it's been over a year since I last wrote on anything for "strangelove." But if you'd seen what I'd attempted in the between-time, you'd be thankful. Also, I've written a novel that I'm currently trying to get published, so that's nine months out of that time. Then again, I doubt that anyone really noticed.

As for the important stuff: huzzah, more! This story takes place during the 13th volume of the Love Hina manga, starting at the same time (and overlapping, of course) Hinata 110. Naturally, that means it takes place after the "Ronin and Heart" storyline. The one continuity detail that I feel bears mentioning is that Motoko's hair would be uncut, as there would have been no reason for her to chop it off. (that's the only quibble that might come up? man, I love this story...)

As always, thank you all for the reviews and requests that I continue this. I hope y'all think this was worth the wait. Enjoy!

* * *

Mirth and Madness in Molmol

Kitsune poked her head into Motoko's room. "Did you remember to pack underwear?"

"Yes," Motoko said, not even looking up from her bag.

"Damn." Kitsune winked as Motoko raised her head and frowned at her. "What?" she asked, trying to look innocent and knowing she didn't have a chance of pulling it off. "Better hurry up, they might leave us behind if we take too long."

"They can wait," Motoko said. She stood and pulled on a black jacket, and lifted her long hair out from under it. Kitsune couldn't help staring at that - sure, they'd been together for over a year, but there was still something damn enchanting about Motoko's hair. She walked into the kendo girl's room and stepped behind her, then stroked a hand down Motoko's hair and pulled her close.

"Kitsune," Motoko said, though Kitsune could hear the desire in her voice, no matter how much she tried to hide it. "Weren't we supposed to be leaving?"

"What, you wanna go chase Keitaro too?" Kitsune chuckled. She felt Motoko tense, and knew her lover was frowning.

"Judging by how you drove back here after reading Grandma Hinata's fax," Motoko said, her voice growing stern, "you almost made me wonder if you wanted to go after him yourself."

Kitsune froze, sniggered, then started laughing so hard she had to let go of Motoko. When she recovered, Motoko was facing her, looking somewhere between upset and curious. Kitsune grinned, wiped a few tears from her eyes, and started to giggle.

"Oh, c'mon," she said, "you think I'd give up you? For him? There's not enough beer in the world to get me that drunk."

"I didn't think so," Motoko said plainly. She started to smile. "But I'm guessing you have something else planned."

"You know me too well," Kitsune said, waving a hand at Motoko. She couldn't keep herself from grinning. "Okay, get this. You know how that fax said that Keitaro has to be back here with a fiancé if he wants Hinata House?" Motoko nodded. "And he doesn't know, 'cause Seta yanked him off somewhere. So except for us, and maybe the turtle girl, everyone's going to be gunning for him once we get wherever he is."

"And that includes Kanako," Motoko said, narrowing her eyes. "I still haven't forgiven her for--"

Kitsune's grin changed to something kind of like a snarl - as close as she could get, anyway. "You and me both," she said. "No one gets to grope you but me." Motoko started to blush, and just as she was about to say something, Kitsune put a finger to her lips. "What," she said, "you gonna tell me I'm wrong?"

Motoko pulled back from Kitsune, still frowning. "She groped me," she said tersely. "She even tried to seduce me, and while dressed as Naru. Do you have any idea how traumatic that was?"

"Really," Kitsune said, raising an eyebrow. "She tried to seduce you? She just grabbed my boobs and asked how big they are." She smirked as she caught Motoko glancing at her chest. "But yeah. It wasn't really high on my list of good times. And that's why we're going with them."

"You must have something good planned," Motoko said dryly. "Otherwise, you'd be going on about how we'd have Hinata House to ourselves."

"Nah, Naru didn't look like she was too hot on leaving, and I think Haruka's still around," Kitsune said, making a dismissive gesture. "And I know you'd be all nervous about when everyone was coming back."

"Kitsune!" Motoko said, her face flushing bright red.

"Hey, it's the truth," Kitsune said. "But my little master plan is this: no matter where we end up, when we finally find Keitaro, he's going to have to choose someone. We make sure he doesn't end up with Kanako. No matter what."

"No matter what?" Motoko asked, giving her a worried look. "Even if that means one of us?"

The two of them looked each other in the eye for a long moment. Kitsune was the first to start laughing, and Motoko soon followed. Motoko slung her bag over her shoulder, and Kitsune slung her arm around Motoko's waist. The two of them headed down to Hinata House's lobby, where Shinobu, Su, and Kanako were waiting and looking impatient.

"Took you long enough," Kanako said in that dead-calm voice of hers.

Kitsune felt the urge to smack her, now that the memory of the forbidden groping was fresh in her mind, but restrained herself. It took all the discipline that Motoko had somehow hammered into her. "Sorry," she said, giving an easy grin. "Just had to make sure my little ronin girl packed everything we might need." She patted Motoko on her ass.

Motoko gave her a look, but didn't say anything.

They headed outside and called for a taxi. Once they'd all piled in, Su yelled, "Set a course for da kingdom of Molmol!"

"T-the kingdom of Molmol?" Shinobu asked, looking like she wasn't sure what she'd gotten herself into. For a moment, Kitsune wondered if the little girl had really understood the message from Grandma Hinata, then shrugged. She'd figure it out eventually. And it'd probably be a lot more fun that way.

"'Course da kingdom of Molmol!" Su said, turning and pointing a finger at all of them. How she managed that with everyone crammed into the taxi, Kitsune wasn't sure. "The kingdom's marks were all over that thingy in Seta's bag! That's gotta be where they're headed!"

"Sounds exotic," Kitsune murmured to Motoko, then turned to the driver. "Hey, mac! Take us to the airport!" She leaned back against Motoko, piled together as they were, and grinned.

"You have no idea where we're going, do you?" Motoko asked as the taxi sped down the road.

"Nope!" Kitsune winked at her lover. "But hey, we needed a vacation. And you can study later, can't you?"

"A vacation?" Motoko asked. She shook her head. "We were just in Kyoto a few weeks ago."

Kitsune forced herself to give Motoko a serious look. "That didn't really count as a vacation, y'know?"

Motoko sighed, and looked out the window as the scenery zipped by. "I suppose not," she said quietly.

"Except for that last part," Kitsune said, leering.

"Kitsune. . . ."

* * *

Motoko reclined her airline seat and looked out the window, trying to relax. Wherever they were, it was night, and the stars seemed much brighter out over the ocean. She had the row to herself, as Shinobu, Su, and Kanako were gathered in the aisle, and seemed to have just scared off a flight attendant who'd asked them to return to their seats. 

She sighed. It was all well and good to speed off to somewhere on a moment's notice; studying so much had kept her from being spontaneous. But with all of Hinata House - except Naru, who'd already gotten in, and Kitsune, who had no intentions of trying - aiming for Tokyo U, she knew her own studies weren't going to be the only ones neglected. Would this all be worth it just to get revenge on Kanako?

Yes.

She brushed a lock of hair off of her shoulder, and shook her head. Urashima's sister had chosen the worst time to show up. Kitsune had only brought her back from Kyoto a few days before, and while things were better between them than they'd been when Motoko ran off, having someone dressed as Naru attempt to violate them both had been . . . unpleasant at the very least. While she didn't think she'd ever truly become used to the feel of Kitsune's hands on her, and hoped that it would never seem commonplace, having someone else do the same was nearly enough to make her skin crawl.

Besides, no one touched a warrior without her permission. No one threatened a warrior's chastity without suffering the consequences.

Motoko paused, wondered for a moment just how much of her chastity she could still claim, then abandoned that train of thought completely. It was the principle of the thing.

Any thoughts of principles were likewise abandoned when Kitsune lay herself across the row of empty seats, putting her head in Motoko's lap. Motoko looked down at her, and Kitsune smirked.

"What?" she asked. "They're all planning how they're going to get Keitaro, they don't need their seats. Besides, it's more comfortable this way."

Motoko smiled a little. "For us, anyway," she said, and ran her fingers through Kitsune's hair, toying with the short ponytail Kitsune had grown over the past half-year.

"Yep," Kitsune said. "Can you believe the prices for beer on this flight? Sure, the ones in first class get it for free, but. . . ." She trailed off, looking about as upset as she ever got.

"Yes, I can," Motoko said, secretly thankful. She really didn't need Kitsune getting drunk and . . . affectionate when they were somewhere over the Pacific Ocean. "We still have another seven hours, so you'll have to be patient."

"That's no fun," Kitsune said, then grinned. "D'you know--"

Motoko put a finger over Kitsune's lips. "If you were even thinking about saying 'mile-high club,' you can stop right now."

Kitsune looked up at her and gently kissed her fingertip, then started to suck on her finger. Motoko felt her face growing hot, and tried to pull her hand away, but Kitsune wouldn't let it go, and even nibbled on her fingertip a little. She quickly glanced around to see if anyone was paying attention, but thankfully, most of the other people on the plane were asleep. A single bead of sweat trickled down her back, and Motoko forced herself to breathe normally.

"Kitsune!" Motoko hissed quietly. "I told you--"

Kitsune let go of her finger with one last kiss. "Hey, you're the one who suggested joining the mile-high club," she said. "I was just going to ask if you knew where the blankets are. We should get some sleep, y'know?"

Motoko closed her eyes as her temperature returned to normal, and resisted the urge to bang her head against the window. Even after nearly two years together, Kitsune still found new ways to embarrass her, or make her embarrass herself. And she always seemed to enjoy it so much. She let out a long sigh, then Kitsune's hand on the side of her face made her open her eyes.

"Do you really think I'd say we should do that?" Kitsune asked quietly. She seemed oddly sincere, and for a moment, Motoko felt bad for even suggesting it. No, not suggesting it. For thinking that Kitsune would suggest it.

"A little," Motoko said after a moment. "It seems like the kind of thing you'd want to try. After that - one time in the living room. . . ." She felt her face growing warm again.

"That was different," Kitsune said with a wink. "No one was around, and besides, the living room's a lot bigger than the bathrooms on this thing."

Motoko blinked. "What?"

"What, you think we could have much fun when it's too small to turn around in there?" Kitsune laughed, then sat up, leaving Motoko trying to figure out just what had happened. A moment later, Kitsune gave her a blanket and pillow, and curled up with her own. They got as comfortable as they could, together on the airline seats, and slept through the rest of the long flight.

* * *

"I thought this was supposed to be a vacation!"

Behind Kitsune, Motoko sighed. "Calm down. It could be worse."

Kitsune banged on the bars that kept the two of them, as well as Shinobu and Kanako, imprisoned in the airship's 'multipurpose reception area.' "Yeah," she said, "Su could have kicked us out of this thing! Dammit, Su, let us out of here!"

"You gotta admit, at least the food's good," Shinobu said. She and Motoko were standing at a table packed with enough food for a festival. "But can you believe it?" she asked as Kitsune turned around. "She's a princess!"

"Yep, we all underestimated her, no wonder she's loaded," Kitsune said, then went to join Motoko. "Regardless, we have to stop this wedding!" She looked over the table, and grumbled. "And she didn't even give us any beer!"

"I don't think I can get us all out of here, though," Motoko said, putting a hand to her chin. "And knowing Su, something bad would happen if I tried to break through the bars."

"Oh, look, it's an airplane," Shinobu said, looking out the room's one small window.

Kitsune and Motoko looked at each other for a moment, then Motoko hurried for the window. "I can get this open," she said.

"That's my girl," Kitsune said, grinning. "Any idea where it goes?"

"Outside the airship, probably," Kanako said. Kitsune looked at her. As usual, the gothy girl's face was blank. Good thing she wasn't in charge of escaping, Kitsune thought, or they'd all end up here for life. "And what makes you think Su wouldn't have done something to that, if you're so sure about the bars?"

"What, you think my kendo girl doesn't know what she's doing?" Kitsune frowned at Kanako, trying to ignore Motoko striking the windowframe with her bare hands.

"I just want to get out of here," Kanako said, looking away as though she didn't care. "I'm not letting Su get away with my brother."

Before Kitsune could tell Kanako just how sick and twisted that sounded, there was a snap, and a squeak as the window opened. "Okay, it's open!" Kitsune said as she hurried over to Motoko, who was pushing the window open wide. "Time to make our--"

"Mrrghh!" Motoko stumbled back as though she'd been hit, and Kitsune caught her. There was a large red shoeprint on her face.

Kitsune blinked. Sure, this had been a pretty weird trip already, but that was just plain out there. "Damn, girl," she said, "what did you do?"

"I thought I heard Naru's voice a moment ago," Shinobu said quietly.

"Outside?" Kitsune shook her head, and looked back to Motoko, whose eyes still looked out of focus. "Motoko? C'mon, what happened?" She gave her girlfriend a shake. "If you don't wake up, I'm going to--"

Motoko gave her head a violent shake, and coughed once. "What . . . I don't know what that was," she said, getting to her feet. "But we can't get out the window. I didn't see a ladder or anything like that."

"So how - how are we going to get out of here?" Shinobu asked, balling up her hands and looking worried. "We have to stop Su before she m-marries sempai!"

"This whole trip's getting really damn disturbing," Kitsune muttered, then looked at Motoko. "You thinking we should hit the bars?"

"Not like you'd want to, I'm sure," Motoko said, giving Kitsune a small smile. "And I'm sorry, but this technique's too advanced for you, for now."

"S'okay," Kitsune said. "You know I like watching you work." She leered at Motoko, who blushed just a little, despite the giant red mark on her face.

"If you two are done, we need to get moving," Kanako said. Kitsune and Motoko both glared at her, but Motoko took a few steps toward the bars and raised her hands. She concentrated for a moment, then pulled back one hand.

"Blazing Light Slash!"

There was a flash, and then nothing, and then the bars fell over all at once, knocked out of the wall. Motoko stood there, breathing deeply. Kitsune ran up to her, spun her around, and kissed her. She felt Motoko's face growing warm, then hot, and finally broke the kiss.

"I love you," Kitsune whispered, making it sound like a joke but meaning every word. From the look in Motoko's eyes, she knew her lover understood.

Then an alarm started going off, and they both winced.

"Come on, you guys!" Shinobu called. She and Kanako were already halfway down a hallway that led away from the room. The sound of running footsteps came from nearby.

Motoko grabbed Kitsune's hand, and the two of them started running. They caught up with Kanako and Shinobu, and ran left at the first intersection they reached. The footsteps grew quieter, then more came from a different direction.

"Running around and breaking things," Kitsune chuckled as they ran. "Almost like we're still at Hinata, eh?"

At the end of the hall in front of them, three tall women in suits turned the corner and started running toward them. They weren't armed, but they looked serious. For a moment, Kitsune wondered if dreadlocks were somehow standard issue for guards in Molmol.

"Not quite," Motoko said, looking determined. "Remember what I taught you about hand-to-hand, we're going to have to go through them! Shinobu, duck!"

Motoko sailed into the air with one foot extended, flying over the small girl, and Kitsune leaped right after her. Kanako had already gotten to the guards and had knocked one to the floor. Kitsune's first blow missed, but she followed up with a spinning kick Motoko had spent three weeks teaching her, and connected.

"Hah!" Kitsune yelled, feeling pretty damn proud. She glanced over her shoulder, and saw that Motoko and Kanako had already taken down the other two. "Show off," she said, winking at Motoko.

"Kitsune!" Motoko yelled, then charged at her, fists ready.

Kitsune dodged as Motoko punched the third guard three times in a blink, and the guard didn't get up. Shinobu looked up, and Motoko motioned for her to go with Kitsune. "We'll take the front," Motoko said, nodding back to Kanako. "Let's go."

Three hallways later, they found a map of the Amallan Kaollan that took up most of one wall. Kitsune and Shinobu leaned against the wall, breathing hard, while Motoko and Kanako looked over the map.

"What," Kitsune asked after a minute, "doesn't it say 'you are here' somewhere?"

"It's not that simple," Motoko said, peering intently at the map. "Most of it's in whatever language they speak here, only a few parts are in Japanese."

"We were here," Kanako said, pointing to a large square room at the edge of the map. She pointed to a circular room right at the front of the blimp, colored banana yellow. "Su should be here."

Kitsune blinked. "Yeah, that makes sense," she said. "Got a quick route?"

"I think so," Motoko said, pointing to a blue line that went from somewhere near the room they'd been in to the yellow room. "But I don't know what this means. It could be just another hallway, but I think it's something else."

"Never try," Kitsune said, coming up behind Motoko and hooking her chin over the dark-haired girl's shoulder, "never know. Y'know?" From the look Motoko was giving her, Kitsune knew that they were both thinking of the last time she'd said that, and all the fun that had been. They both started to blush.

Then, the sound of footsteps came again, more this time. Motoko frowned, and Kitsune did the same, though she was trying not to giggle. This had to be the worst place for a romantic vacation ever.

"Three halls up, then one right," Motoko said. "Go."

They took off running again. Another group of guards came at them, and Kitsune recognized the three they'd beat up a moment ago before the fight started. This one took longer, and when they finally reached the place they'd been going, Kitsune was just about ready to surrender to the next group of guards. This just kept getting better.

"What's a bathtub like that doing in a blimp?" Shinobu asked, putting words to what pretty much all of them were thinking.

Kitsune stared at the giant pool. "This thing can get us to Su's room?"

"That's what the map said," Motoko said, and kicked open what looked like a locker next to the pool. A few snorkels tumbled out. "It's not far. Time for a swim."

"Well, this just figures," Kitsune said, stepping over next to Motoko as the other girl handed out snorkels. When Motoko looked at her, Kitsune winked at her. "We get wet and for once we're not alone. . . ."

"Kitsune. . . ."

"And you're not even wearing white," Kitsune finished. She brushed her fingers over Motoko's as she took her snorkel, and kissed the kendo girl on her cheek. "Ready to take the plunge?"

Motoko just shook her head. "While I'm sure that we'll live through this," she said quietly, "you're making me wonder about far too many things."

"Nah," Kitsune said, putting an arm around Motoko's waist. "Nothing to worry about. We go for a swim, save Keitaro from marriage, and get outta here. What's the worst that could happen?"

Several minutes and a short swim later, Kitsune got the answer to her question.

They burst out of another large pool, coming up in a large room mostly taken up by a gigantic bed that looked like it should be in the swankiest of love motels. Su was on the bed, half-naked and reaching for Keitaro, who was mostly-naked and reaching for Naru, who was fully clothed. For a moment, everyone in the room froze.

"Wow," Kitsune said after spitting out her snorkel. "If this could get more wrong, I actually don't wanna know."

"I think that's a first," Motoko said, though she sounded more stunned than anything.

Keitaro grinned sheepishly. "Would it help if I said I was glad to see you?"

The room's door slammed open, and some of the same guards ran in. "It's the prisoners! Get 'em!"

"M-Motoko?" Shinobu asked, looking worried.

"Hmph." Motoko turned, a determined look on her face, and the battle was on again.

Kitsune ducked low, trying to ignore all the boot-to-the-head action going on, and made her way over to the bed. "Much as I'd love to watch my girl kick some ass again," she said, grinning at her friends, "we've gotta get you out of here. Sorry, Su, but these two are--"

"Blazing Light Slash!"

The flash from Motoko's attack blew out the windows that covered one wall, and winds started ripping through the room. Naru and Keitaro tumbled off the bed, Su shortly behind them, and Kitsune grimaced. "Damn!" She glanced to the fight. "Oh, great, even worse."

Motoko and Kanako were being driven toward the window by Su's guards, and the crazy girl was cheering them on. "I see you hire the best, Su," Motoko said, smiling in that way she always did when in the middle of a really good fight or a really good-

Kitsune shook her head, and looked back to Naru and Keitaro. Naru was running, Keitaro was going after her, but they were both getting too close to the broken window. She watched as Naru thwacked Keitaro with a pot, then heard a yell from the fight.

"Not good enough!" one of the guards said, kicking Kanako across the room.

"Naru, look out!" Keitaro yelled as Kanako slammed into Naru, sending her out the window.

"Oh, shit!" Kanako yelled, followed by "Kyaahh!" from Shinobu.

"Naru!" Motoko cried, then looked to Kitsune, who just held up her hands. Now what . . . ?

Out of the corner of her eye, Kitsune saw Keitaro rush past her, grab something, then run for the window. He leaped, and Kitsune saw something on his back. Where'd he get a backpack up here?

"Kitsune!"

Kitsune looked over to Motoko. She was standing next to a trunk of some kind - it must have been knocked open, Kitsune thought, either in the fight or when the window broke. There were more backpacks like the one Keitaro had spilling out onto the floor, and Motoko was putting one on.

Everything came together in Kitsune's head at once, and before she had a chance to panic, Motoko had run for her, scooped her up in her arms, and leaped out the window.

"Motoko I love you but I don't wanna die like this!" Kitsune yelled all at once as the world spun around her and there was suddenly nothing but air.

"You won't die!" Motoko yelled, sounding oddly calm for what she'd just done. "Do you think I'd let you?"

Kitsune blinked, and held tighter to her lover. "Not a big death!" she said, grinning as wide as she could. "But you can pull that cord anytime! Or d'you want me to pull it for you?"

"Kitsune! This isn't. . . ." Motoko sighed, then pulled the cord dangling from her pack's shoulder. There was a _woomph_, and a giant three-eyed parachute billowed out above them. Kitsune held on tight as their fall suddenly turned into a float, and she looked down at the world spread out below them. It was dizzying, so she looked at Motoko instead.

"Wow," Kitsune said. "Saving the girl by leaping after her with a parachute. You weren't kidding about being traditional." Motoko just smiled at her. "Y'know," Kitsune continued, leering a little, "I know we just jumped out of a blimp, but this is kinda romantic. I didn't know you had it in you."

Motoko blushed, but didn't look away. "We couldn't stay there, not when we'd just helped Keitaro escape," she said. "I don't think we want to know what Su would do to us for ruining her wedding."

"Yeah, if she was ready to jump Keitaro, I don't wanna know how twisted she could get," Kitsune said, but she couldn't stop grinning. "Hey, you hear that?"

They both looked down at the sound of a propeller. A small plane, the one that had yanked Keitaro away from Tokyo U and started this whole mess, was flying toward them, and was about to reach Naru and Keitaro. Kitsune laughed wildly, and pointed. "Aim that way!"

Once they were on the plane, Seta looked back at them and grinned around his cigarette. "Now that all the lovebirds are safe," he said, "how 'bout we get the heck out of here, huh?"

"Wise idea, Seta," Motoko said. Kitsune could hear the respect in her voice; not everyone got that from her. "Where are we going, anyway?"

"The Todai capital," Seta said. "We've got a ruin to find and something to return, so--"

"Look over there!" Keitaro yelled.

Kitsune looked, and wished she hadn't. Three-eyed blimps filled the sky, looking armed and dangerous and very very angry. Kitsune gulped. "Maybe we should have stuck with the parachute," she said to Motoko, trying not to sound nervous and utterly failing.

"I'm still not letting you die," Motoko said, squeezing Kitsune's hand.

"Just when it looked like we were getting outta here alive," Naru said, turning on Keitaro, "you screw it up!"

Keitaro threw his hands up, shielding his face. "And how's this my fault?"

"Guys, better buckle up back there!" Seta said before taking the plane down into a dive.

Kitsune clung to Motoko, then looked at her and tried to wink, but had a feeling it just came out as squinting. "Next time, we stay at Hinata!" Motoko just nodded and put her arms around Kitsune, who kept hoping that they'd get out of this alive.

"Hold on tight, we're going down!" Seta yelled from up front.

Kitsune held back a lewd comment, and got a quick glimpse of thick green jungle out the front window before the plane plowed into it. There was a crash and a rumble, and everything in the plane was tossed back and forth. When they finally stopped moving, Kitsune found herself still clutching to Motoko, her face buried in the kendo girl's chest. To Kitsune's immediate regret, Motoko was still wearing binding.

"Kitsune, are you all right?" Motoko whispered.

Kitsune raised her head, slowly. "The earth moved," she quipped, then gave Motoko a silly grin and collapsed. Today had officially been just too much.


	11. Marry Me Motoko

_**Marry Me Motoko**_

* * *

Kitsune couldn't remember the last time she'd needed a beer this much.

Sure, life at Hinata was usually casual, so she didn't really need the beer so much as want it. But just today, she'd taken a plane to some island she'd never heard of before, been thrown into an airship's prison, thrown out of the airship by her girlfriend, and flown halfway across the island to a giant desert, heading toward some ancient place that Seta and Keitaro just couldn't get enough of.

Yeah. Today was definitely one of those '_need_ a beer' days.

And the fact that Motoko was practically hanging on Seta's every word didn't help. Sure, Kitsune knew that Motoko had a lot of respect for the man; he was the only guy who'd ever bested her in a fight. Okay, except for that time when she'd challenged Keitaro, but according to Motoko, she'd been sick so that didn't count. But it was kind of frustrating to see her acting like she was at some lecture.

". . . the city of Todai was the heart of the great turtle civilization that spanned the Pacific Ocean," Seta was saying. Kitsune glanced over at Naru, who looked just as annoyed at Keitaro's enthusiasm. "It was a glorious utopia, almost five times the size of Pararakelse and blessed with all of nature's beauty. There was no strife in this paradise . . . only man and turtlekind living and loving peacefully together."

Kitsune had to laugh at that. The thought of a turtle civilization still seemed kinda silly to her . . . though it was too bad that Mutsumi wasn't here. She would probably freak out at the thought of an entire country that loved turtles.

Hmm.

Kitsune glanced over at Motoko, who looked a little uneasy. Some things never changed, and it looked like her kendo girl was still afraid of turtles. Kitsune held back a chuckle and walked to Motoko's side, brushing back the white cloth headgear they all wore so she could see her girlfriend's face.

Motoko gave her a curious look. "Are you all right, Kitsune?"

"I kinda miss the hot springs and I could really use a beer, but yeah, I'm okay," Kitsune said, managing a smile. "You okay about the turtle thing?"

There it was. Just a little bit of a shudder. Kitsune put her arm around Motoko's waist, and felt her lover tense for a moment, then relax.

"It's just a ruin," Motoko said, her voice firm and strong. "I can deal with stone turtles, there were enough of them at Pararakelse."

"Yeah, but there aren't enough leaves here for a bikini," Kitsune said. She smirked at Motoko's glare, then leaned her head on her shoulder and grinned.

A moment later, Seta finally said something interesting. "As legend has it, all that was needed for peace or even everlasting love was for two species or lovers to make a pilgrimage to this religious mecca together."

Kitsune raised her head, and saw a look on Motoko's face she couldn't even begin to figure out. She didn't look scared, she didn't look worried, just. . . . Kitsune nudged her, and Motoko looked down at her, though it took a moment.

"Yes?" Motoko asked.

"What'cha thinking?" Kitsune asked. "Looks like we finally get our vacation out of this. Beats being trapped in that airship, eh?"

"Almost anything would," Motoko said evenly.

Kitsune paused, and a moment later, asked, "You thought of anything for how we're gonna keep Kanako away from Keitaro?"

"It seems we've already done that," Motoko said, looking ahead to where the others were walking, Sarah running a little to keep up with Seta. "He's here with us, the others are nowhere nearby. There shouldn't be any problems." She glanced down at Kitsune. "Not with them, at least. What about you?"

"I dunno," Kitsune said. "Something just seems weird." She separated from Motoko, and gestured vaguely. "I mean, we're in the middle of nowhere, again, seems like we're gonna do this every year."

Motoko gave her a small smile. "I'm not running away if I fail to get into Tokyo U again," she said. "Pararakelse was nice, but once is enough."

"Yeah, no kidding," Kitsune said, grinning for a moment. "But seriously. It just feels like something's missing, y'know? It's great to be here, especially with you," she said, nudging Motoko again, "but it's like. . . ." She trailed off, and shrugged.

"I think I know what you mean," Motoko said. "I felt much the same one of the times I left Hinata, when I went off to practice by myself. There was something missing from my training, something I couldn't find at Hinata."

Kitsune raised an eyebrow and frowned. "Didn't Keitaro go after you, with Su and Sarah?"

"Yes. But they helped me realize what I was missing." She reached out and took Kitsune's hand, despite the desert heat. "And a few weeks later, you helped me realize even more."

Kitsune felt herself blush, then laughed. "Wow, this place really does make you get all romantic and--"

"Hey! What's that over there?" Keitaro yelled from up ahead. Kitsune looked up, past Naru and Haruka, to where Keitaro was pointing. There was something in the desert, something rising from the sands.

"Oh, man! That's it!" Seta cried. "Those are the Todai ruins!"

Keitaro and Seta took off running, Sarah chasing after them. Kitsune blinked, then looked back to Motoko. They both shrugged, and walked after Naru and Haruka, heading toward the ruins. This trip kept getting stranger and stranger; walking into some ruins in the middle of the desert sounded almost normal by now.

When they reached the ruins, Seta and Keitaro were struggling with the giant stone door, with Sarah cheering them on. "Okay, on three!" Seta said. "One . . . two . . . ughh!"

"Wish you had your sword?" Kitsune asked, leaning close to Motoko. The other girl didn't answer, but Kitsune felt her tense.

The ancient doors creaked open. Kitsune braced herself, squeezing Motoko's arm. This had to be good. After everything that had happened, this couldn't be-

"Hello there, travelers! And welcome to the Todai ruins!"

Kitsune's jaw dropped. The place was filled with people, and cheesy decorations at the entry proclaimed the Todai ruins a honeymoon capital. Kitsune blinked a few times, hardly able to believe it, then looked over at Motoko, who seemed just as shocked. She poked Motoko, trying to wake her up, and the two of them followed the others inside.

She half-listened as Seta and Keitaro talked about what the ruins had become, how tourists started flocking here 'cause of that legend about making their love last forever. Kitsune sighed, then shook her head when she saw Naru gushing over catching the bouquet at a nearby wedding. All that trouble, all that walking through the desert, for this?

Then again, maybe she could get a beer around here somewhere. . . .

Kitsune started looking around, trying to see if she could find anything that looked like a bar. After spotting three likely places, she looked back to Motoko, who was waiting just behind her. Everyone else was gone.

Kitsune blinked. "Where'd they go?"

"One way or another," Motoko said. "Urashima ran off, Naru went somewhere with Seta, and I think I saw Haruka wander off that way." She pointed down a row of shops, mostly clothing. "It's like we're not even here."

Kitsune considered this for a moment. "Yeah, it's like that with them sometimes." She grinned, then slipped her arm around Motoko's waist, patting her ass along the way. "But that means we could slip off somewhere. . . ."

"And we wouldn't be missed," Motoko finished.

Kitsune blinked. "Where's Motoko and what have you done with her?"

Motoko gave her a confused look for a moment, then blushed. "I know," she said, smiling a little. "But it's . . . this place." She looked around, then back at Kitsune. "I don't know what it is, but it feels like everyone here's just thinking about being with someone, about loving someone." She put her hand over Kitsune's on her waist. "It's a welcome change."

"I knew coming here was a good idea," Kitsune said, her grin growing wide. "C'mon. Let's go find a bar, and then--" She broke off when Motoko shook her head. "No?"

"No." She raised her head, staring off into the distance, though Kitsune wasn't quite sure what she was looking at. There wasn't much distance around here. "I think I'd like to stay sober here; I don't want to miss how this place feels."

"Can you feel this place, and I go get a beer?" Kitsune asked, then winked when Motoko gave her an exasperated look. "Hey, it's been a while."

"At least a day," Motoko said dryly, though she did nod. She took Kitsune's hand from her waist, and held it before her. "Come and find me when you're done."

Kitsune started to protest. This was really weird. Normally Motoko would give her all kinds of shit about drinking when they were supposed to be together, stuff like that. And now she was letting her go? She was about to protest, or something like it, when Motoko leaned forward and kissed her cheek. Kitsune blinked, surprised, and Motoko was gone.

What had gotten into her? This whole trip, she'd been like that . . . ever since they'd gotten to Molmol. It was like coming back from Kyoto and then having Kanako around had turned her from a ronin into some kind of prince, what with the rescuing and the leaping out of an airship and the sudden romanticness. Sure, it wasn't bad. But it was weird.

Kitsune shrugged. She'd think about it over a few drinks; that usually got her an answer or two. And hey, it'd gotten her Motoko, way back when. She nodded to herself, and headed toward the closest building that looked like a bar.

* * *

Motoko sat at the edge of what seemed to be a dock and tried to think. It wasn't working very well.

There was something about this place, she couldn't deny that. It reminded her of the state of mind that she got into when she was focusing on her training, when she could do as her sister had taught her and feel 'now' and 'the flow.' Some of the places where she'd trained, the Gods' Cry School among them, had a feeling to them; you could almost sense the spirits of dozens of martial artists still lingering there, helping those who lived and trained there along their way. That was part of why the school produced such talented martial artists, Motoko was sure.

So was that what it was about this place? The spirits of dozens of couples, all here to make sure that everyone who came here ended up as happy lovers, or perhaps married. That would make sense, if Todai was supposed to be a honeymoon capital.

Motoko sighed, and looked out across the water. She'd been trying to get her thoughts clear on things with Kitsune, ever since they'd come back from Kyoto. She loved her, there was no doubt about that. But what did the future hold? To be sure, Motoko would get into Tokyo U; she no longer held any doubts about that. And she would continue with the sword, perhaps to someday inherit the Gods' Cry School.

But there was more to life than her studies and her sword; Motoko had to admit that to herself. She'd known it for some time, but to think it out loud, as it were, was unsettling. What was her future beyond those two?

Motoko heard cheering behind her, and looked over her shoulder to see a newly wedded couple surrounded by friends, flower petals filling the air around them. She watched, smiling, and for a moment saw herself in the groom's tuxedo.

She blinked, shook her head violently, and turned away. Either that was far too convenient, or the spirits of dozens of happy couples here were playing tricks on her. Motoko reached down to the water, and splashed a little on her face, then raised her eyes and looked to the setting sun. She wished she had her sword. Running through a few practice katas would calm her down and help her to think better.

Sword or not, it was a good idea. She stood, stretched, and tied her long hair back, then settled into a stance for unarmed combat. It wasn't the deck at Hinata, but it would do, and such things were best done by the setting sun, no matter where she was.

There was a familiarity to the motions, something calm and settling about them, and Motoko felt her mind beginning to ease. It only made sense for her to be feeling more strongly for Kitsune in a place like this. When surrounded by romance in its various forms, even the strongest minds would start to give. And, she had to admit to herself, it had been difficult to think of much else than her and Kitsune ever since what happened at Kyoto.

Motoko slid into a more advanced stance as she considered this. In all the time they'd been together, they'd never talked about their future. While it was true that she was only eighteen, it was never too early to plan. She would get into Tokyo U, but what then? It would work well to stay at Hinata House while she was in college, and she knew that she didn't want to move out. The place held too many memories, too many friends. Giving up her place there, giving up her room, would be giving up a part of herself.

And all of a sudden, the answer was there. There were larger rooms in Hinata . . . she and Kitsune could move into one, together.

Motoko slowed down as she went through the kata, considering what she'd just thought of. Aside from the obvious, little had changed between she and Kitsune since they'd come to love each other, little had happened. Perhaps there was the chance that things would grow dull if nothing changed . . . perhaps it was time to take another step.

She slowly started to smile. Maybe it was the effect of this place, or perhaps she was just coming to realize things she'd known for a long time. But it couldn't hurt to take things to another level between them, to move closer without giving up anything. If nothing else, the look on Kitsune's face when she suggested it would be priceless.

Motoko went through the final few movements of her kata, then stretched, the last of the day's light falling upon her. She would have to find Kitsune, wherever she'd gone, and tell her what she'd realized. It was a good plan, it was a sensible plan . . . it was a plan that could turn out very well, Motoko thought, feeling herself blush.

It was a plan that ran scared to the farthest recesses of her mind when she heard Kitsune giggle behind her.

Motoko spun around, suddenly wary. How long had Kitsune been watching her? Had she seen the blush on her face? And . . . judging by how red Kitsune's face was, how much had she had to drink?

"Hey. . . ." Kitsune slowly got to her feet, and staggered over to Motoko. She leaned against her, and Motoko could smell something alcoholic, though she couldn't quite place it. Whatever it was, Kitsune looked to have had a lot of it. "You look . . . you look really sexy when you're doing that, y'know?" Kitsune slurred.

"Kitsune," Motoko said, trying to keep her lover from falling over. "I don't--"

"Yes you do!" Kitsune leered at her, then suddenly started to look serious. "Hey. I got an idea. I think I got . . . what's been bothering me. About, about being here."

Motoko paused. "What do you mean?" she asked. She steadied herself, and put her arms around Kitsune, who had draped her own arms around Motoko's shoulders. Kitsune gave her a big silly smile, and Motoko couldn't help returning it, just a little. She took a deep breath and waited.

"Let's get married," Kitsune said all at once.

Motoko's knees went weak for a moment, and she was afraid she was going to fall. Then she was sure of it. She stumbled backwards and landed hard on the stone dock, Kitsune atop her. As she tried to catch her breath, Kitsune giggled again and leaned in closer.

"So that's a yes?" Kitsune said, and moved in to kiss her.

Motoko turned her head. She felt Kitsune's breath on her cheek, then it was gone. Motoko looked, and saw that Kitsune had leaned back, then rolled to one side and slid off of her. She got to her knees, and looked Kitsune in the eye. She swallowed hard. This wasn't going to be easy.

"So what's . . . what's that?" Kitsune asked, slurring less but clearly still more than a little drunk. "You don't wanna kiss me--"

"It's not that," Motoko said quickly, looking down at her hands, clenched in her lap. "I . . . I don't know what to say. I hadn't even thought about that." Sure, she'd been thinking of something a little like it, but not the same kind of commitment.

Kitsune tilted her head, giving Motoko a strange look. "You never even thought. . . ? Okay, neither did I," she said, then grinned. "But it's like you said, it's this place. It's everything here, y'know? Just seeing all this . . . this stuff, it made me think . . . yeah."

Motoko had to smile at that. Kitsune was never eloquent, especially when she'd been drinking. But she was sincere. She paused for a moment, collecting herself, then opened her arms, inviting Kitsune close. Her lover shuffled over, and curled up against her. Naturally, Kitsune rested her head on Motoko's breasts, but she was more than used to that by now. Motoko gently stroked her hand down Kitsune's hair, watching her.

"When did you realize this?" she asked quietly.

"Jus' . . . when I was at the bar," Kitsune murmured. "There was this couple there, celebrating their anniver'sry. They'd been together a year, got hitched here, came back here. Made me start thinking." She looked up at Motoko. "We been together longer than that. Why aren' we married?"

Motoko gave her a pained smile. "I don't think it's legal in Japan," she said quietly. It wasn't something she liked to think about; there shouldn't be laws like that.

"Don' matter," Kitsune said. "At least, I don' think so. Probably marry jus' about anyone here." She giggled. "Okay, almos' anyone."

"We wouldn't be married back home, not legally." Motoko knew it was a weak argument, but it was true all the same. She also knew why it wasn't important, and had a feeling Kitsune knew the same.

"So?" Kitsune raised one hand and stroked it down Motoko's cheek, tracing her fingertips over her skin. Motoko fought back a shiver. "We'd be married. You an' me. That's what matters."

"Don't you think we're too young for something like that?" Motoko asked, working to keep her voice calm. She was trying to get things straight in her head; asking questions was the best way to stall. She just hoped that Kitsune wouldn't think she was trying to talk her out of the idea.

"Don' matter," Kitsune said again. "People get married all the time, all ages and stuff. You saw Haruka an' . . . an' Seta. Who knows, they might get married sometime, and they're gettin' old."

Motoko paused. She hadn't thought of it that way. She looked up at the stars, remembering their first night, when everything had come out and Kitsune had confessed, somewhat, as only she could have. She'd ended up holding Kitsune in much the same way then as she was now.

"I had been thinking," Motoko said, hoping Kitsune would understand, "about us moving in together. There are larger rooms at Hinata, I think we could live comfortably together in one of them. I was going to find you and ask, when you arrived."

"You think my stuff would go good with your stuff?" Kitsune asked, looking a little puzzled. "That's nice. And yeah. It'd be . . . it'd be good to not have to keep runnin' back and forth. 'Cause sometime, someone's gonna catch you runnin' naked back to your room," she said, leering up at Motoko.

Motoko sighed, though she couldn't help smiling. "There is that," she said.

She leaned into Kitsune's hand against her face, and closed her eyes. She pictured what it would be like, a room that the two of them shared. It would be chaotic, that was to be sure, but there would be a kind of synergy about it, a way of everything that made them who they were working together despite the differences and clashes.

Motoko wondered for a moment just how things had come to be this way. When they'd first met, she'd wondered if any two people could possibly be more different. As she'd come to know Kitsune better, she'd seen more to her; the differences remained, but it had been easy for them to be friends. Growing closer, growing to love and be lovers, had both been sudden and seemed to take forever at the same time.

But there was a fulfilment that came with being with Kitsune, something she'd never been able to explain. And that, she supposed, was love. No. She didn't suppose. She knew.

Motoko put her hand over Kitsune's free hand, and held it tight. For a moment, she felt like she was back at Hinata, back on the deck, that night when they'd shared their first kiss. She'd wanted to be sure, to know that what she felt was real. In a way, some things hadn't changed.

"So," Kitsune said, her voice a little more clear, "you gonna give me an answer?" She was smiling, though.

Motoko squeezed Kitsune's hand. "Let me think about it for tonight, please? I want to be sure."

* * *

The next day's sunrise found them on the docks.

Kitsune leaned into Motoko, who was leaning against some kind of low pillar, and they both looked to the eastern sky as it began to lighten. As the sun reached the horizon, she shielded her eyes from the glare, then leaned her head back on Motoko's shoulder and looked up at her. "Think that's symbolic or something?" she asked.

"Perhaps," Motoko said. She yawned, and Kitsune nudged her. "I'm sorry," Motoko said. "But it's been a long night."

"Like it's the first time we kept each other up all night," Kitsune said, smirking. She watched her lover blush, and snuggled closer to her. "Gotta admit this was different, yeah?"

Motoko didn't say anything, just held her close. After a moment, she murmured, "Have you seen Haruka, or Seta?"

"Nope," Kitsune said. "Don't know where Naru and Keitaro went either." She chuckled. "Eh, they'll be all right."

"They should be," Motoko said. "I just hope things went well. I'd hate to think the reason we came along didn't work out because we weren't there."

"Hmm? I had a reason for coming here besides you?" Kitsune leaned up and kissed Motoko on her neck. "Oops. Guess I forgot." She felt the other girl shiver, and leaned back and reveled in it. Today had been one incredible day. Bizarre, yeah, but it'd be a long, long time before anything else compared.

They sat there for a long moment, saying nothing, just watching the sun rise. Eventually, Kitsune asked, "D'you think they'll come back for us?"

"They should," Motoko said. "If not, we'll find them."

"And surprise the hell out of them," Kitsune laughed. She put her hand over Motoko's, bringing together the matching gold rings they both wore. "So, about that whole honeymoon thing. . . ?"

"Kitsune. . . ."

* * *

Author's Note

Thus ends "strangelove."

Yes, this is really the end; I mean it this time. After "Ronin and Heart" and the flashback tale, I'd thought that there wasn't anything more I could do, but the thought of bringing the series to a close with the best possible ending for a romance story appealed to me. It took some time to figure out the right way to do it, thus the long break between chapters, but once I'd built up to it, I knew I had to get it done.

Thank you to everyone who's read this. This story started as two things - a chance for me to practice writing a relationship between two women for the novel I was working on at the time (it's since been scrapped), and as a dare. Okay, it was much more the latter. But still. I'm glad that y'all have enjoyed it, glad to have contributed my own little bit to Love Hina fandom, and I hope you're happy with the ending. I know I am, and I'm glad to leave Kitsune and Motoko at such a great point.

This is Moose, signing off of "strangelove."


End file.
